Blasting Fears from Trap Rock Quarry in South Brunswick Compressor Gas Fight

South Brunswick, NJ - In South Brunswick's ongoing fight to prevent a natural gas compressor station from being built off Rt. 27, a South Brunswick Councilwoman said she is extremely worried blasting from the nearby Trap Rock Quarry could cause the natural gas line to rupture.

Williams, an Oklahoma-based energy company, seeks to build a gas compressor station at the intersection of Promenade Blvd. and Rt. 27. Williams already runs natural gas lines underground through that area, but the company says a compressor station is now needed because it is greatly expanding the pipeline to deliver more natural gas to New York City. A compressor station is essentially a large engine that pushes, or compresses, natural gas through a pipeline.

The problem, the Councilwoman said, is how close the proposed station is to Trap Rock Quarry, about a half mile away.

"I can feel the blasting at least two to three times a week," said Councilwoman Jo Hochman, who lives in Princeton Walk. "The windows rattle, the paintings on the walls shift. When it's a strong blast, sometimes you hear it and the ground shakes."

Hochman said she's worried a blast strong enough could cause the line to break.

"How does the blasting affect the pipeline?" she wondered. "If all of a sudden they are now pushing more gas through, what if the line cracks or ruptures due to Trap Rock's blasting? Accidents like this do happen."

Trap Rock will continue to operate the quarry for at least the next ten years, she said.

Her concern is one Williams is taking seriously.

"With regard to the facility’s proximity to Trap Rock, we are aware of this concern and plan to conduct a comprehensive engineering analysis to determine if this activity would have any measureable impact on normal facility operations," said company spokesman Chris Stockton. "While we do not anticipate that the quarry’s proximity will create a potential hazard for the facility, we do plan to study the issue."

Stockton also pointed out that "operating pipeline facilities near a rock quarry is not unusual. The existing Transco pipeline has operated in the area for decades without incident," he said.

Williams is debating between two sites for the compressor station: Option A at Promenade Blvd. and Rt. 27, about a half mile from the quarry, and Option B, a location farther north between County Road 518 and Rt. 27, about 1/3 of a mile from the quarry. Both locations are technically in Franklin Township, but would affect South Brunswick residents.

"Pipelines can break," said Hochman. "We've all heard of these accidents. This is being built directly near the 1,000 residents of Princeton Walk, and an accident would affect all of South Brunswick."

Williams would likely file its application to build the station with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in the spring of 2017, and the federal government then spends about a year evaluating the application.