South Brunswick to Feds: Include Us in Transco Pipeline Decision-Making

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ - This week, South Brunswick Township sent a letter to the head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, saying South Brunswick has been left out of the process of the construction of a Transco pipeline compressor station on the Franklin/South Brunswick border.

As Patch previously reported, the compressor station will be built on a 52-acre plot of land one mile south of the intersection of Rt. 518 and Rt. 27. Although it will be built on the Franklin Township side of Rt. 27, it will still be located close to 55+ adult community Princeton Manor, Baumley Nursery, Madden's Greenhouse & Nursery, a Buddhist temple and a vet clinic.

The substation will to be built to ease gas pressure on the Transco natural gas pipeline, which has run underground through Franklin and South Brunswick since the 1960s. Residents of Princeton Manor are very concerned about the substation; there have been well-documented explosions and fatal accidents along the Transco natural gas pipeline.

"Increased pressure with the proposed compressor station will force natural gas through pipes that are over 50 years old," said South Brunswick resident Elizabeth Roedell. "South Brunswick Township is trying to prevent an explosion like the one that occurred outside Pittsburgh under the same scenario."

"We, as a Township neighboring the proposed site, have been excluded from the FERC process," South Brunswick Township spokesman Ron Schmalz told Patch. "The Mayor and Council very much would like a voice in the decision-making process because of the proximity of the proposed location to the residents of South Brunswick Township."

You can read a copy of the letter South Brunswick Mayor Frank Gambatese sent to Kimberly Bose, Secretary of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In the letter, Mayor Gambatese said there has been a "lack of good faith cooperation and potentially misleading information" from Williams, the company that maintains the pipeline and wants to build the substation. Williams has released statements that are "unclear, misleading, contradictory or overly optimistic, without any backup study or documents," he wrote.

Mayor Gambatese said that there are still many unanswered questions about the project, including its safety.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will decide whether or not the substation gets built. The South Brunswick Township Council has established a committee of residents and professionals to monitor the ongoing process at FERC.

Past Patch coverage:

Site Picked for Transco Gas Compressor Station Near South Brunswick

Natural Gas Compressor In Franklin Causes Concerns For Local Residents
Pipeline Spokesman Says Sound is 'Comparable to a Refrigerator'