Protest Continues Against Pipeline Station In Essex County

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — A group of activists plan to continue their protests against the expansion of a controversial gas pipeline station in Essex County with a rally on Monday, April 29.

According to a news release from organizers, Roseland Against Compressor Station (RACS), the demonstration will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. in front of the Roseland compressor station site at 563 Eagle Rock Avenue.

Protestors are rallying against Williams/Transco’s plans to expand the capacity of a natural gas pipeline compressor station, which is located a short walk from the Essex County Environmental Center.

• See related article: Free Earth Day Event In Essex County (Music, Food, Canoe Rides)

Williams Transco has been trying to beef up its current compressor station in Roseland for years as part of its Gateway Expansion Project, a larger effort to revamp the Transco interstate natural gas pipeline and provide additional service to New Jersey and New York.

The energy giant has claimed that the Gateway Expansion Project is needed to help it provide New Jersey with more than half of its natural gas, including to utility companies such as PSE&G. The company has previously blasted activists’ allegations that the 27,500 horsepower expansion in Roseland is a ticking environmental time bomb.

"Station 303 is an electric motor-driven compressor station, therefore, there are no emissions from natural gas combustion associated with compression," a spokesperson told Patch. "The Transco pipeline has been safely operating in this area for decades, and the pipe in this area consists of both Class 3 and 4 pipe, which is the highest pipeline design class standard established by U.S. DOT code."

• See related article: Pipeline Company Says No Plans For 2nd Compressor In Essex County

After making its way through years of red tape and permit applications – Williams Transco finally has the necessary approvals from federal and state authorities to move forward in Roseland, a company spokesperson told Patch in March.

• See related article: Controversial Essex County Pipeline Station Gets Key Permits

Activists aren’t giving up their fight against the expansion, however, and have filed appeals to halt the project with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the NJ Department of Environmental Protection.

RACS supporters held a similar “emergency demonstration” in front of the Roseland station on March 28.

• See related article: Essex County Activists To Rally Against Pipeline Station

“We had a positive action about a month ago, and we’re planning to do this every month until construction is stopped,” a spokesperson for RACS wrote earlier this week. “Last month a couple of thousand cars went by us, seeing our signs, some of them honking their support, getting it that, as someone once said, ‘we have just begun to fight.’”

According to the RACS, the compressor station is part of a pipeline that runs under several Essex County towns including Roseland, West Caldwell, North Caldwell, Cedar Grove, Little Falls, Clifton, Bloomfield, Nutley, Belleville, North Arlington, Lyndhurst, Rutherford, East Rutherford, Carlstadt, Ridgefield and North Bergen, as well as the campus of Montclair State University.

The pipeline system connects the Northeastern markets with natural gas from the Marcellus Shale Formation, some of which is extracted using the controversial process known as "fracking."

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