The City Council of Trenton passed a resolution on December 2 opposing a plan by New Fortress Energy to build a massive liquefied natural gas export terminal in the Gibbstown area of Greenwich Township, located in Gloucester County.

The Trenton resolution calls on Governor Murphy to reject permits needed to load highly explosive and polluting LNG onto ships for export out of Gibbstown, and calls on the Army Corps of Engineers to complete an environmental impact statement on the project. The state capital’s vote is the twelfth municipality to pass a resolution in opposition to the project.

“I was proud to co-sponsor our adoption of this resolution against liquified natural gas being transported near Trenton. New Fortress Energy’s plan to move fracked gas through our backyards would put our already overburdened community at higher risk, and would set us back in our efforts to transition Trenton and the whole state off of fossil fuels. We need to be investing in clean energy for our childrens’ futures and the future of Trenton,” said Councilwoman Marge Caldwell-Wilson, a co-sponsor of the resolution. 

The proposed export terminal would be part of a massive new fracked gas infrastructure buildout in the region. The full scope of the project would involve supercooling gas extracted in Pennsylvania into liquefied natural gas (LNG), a highly volatile substance, and shipping it by truck and train nearly 200 miles to Gibbstown for export. 

As a registered nurse case manager, I am accustomed to advocating for the citizens of Trenton. I am extremely pleased that the Trenton City Council passed a resolution against the ground transportation of liquified natural gas through our area,” said City of Trenton employee Zoe Leach. “Our first responders have been through enough in the last year and a half and deserve the protection and support from our elected officials, not just verbal praise. I am so pleased with the results of the council’s vote.”

While the planned shipping routes have not been disclosed to the public, truck routes would likely pass within 2 miles of Trenton, as well as densely-populated urban areas in North Philadelphia and Camden. LNG is exceptionally dangerous: if ignited, it can burn in a fire too hot to extinguish. An LNG explosion at a Washington plant in 2014 led to emergency evacuation of a two-mile radius.

Councilperson Santiago Rodruiguez, co-sponsor of the resolution, said that “no hazardous materials should be transported through NJ. ” He noted that Trenton is already on a transport route for hazardous waste being transported from upstate New York  to Pennsylvania. “Residents are already subject to the schemes of the corporate fossil fuel industry, we don’t need any more dangerous material rolling through our town.”

“Trenton’s unanimous choice to vote against the Gibbstown LNG terminal is part of a growing effort throughout New Jersey to stop this dangerous project in its tracks,” said Food & Water Watch organizer Noa Gordon-Guterman. “Trenton’s elected officials and residents sent a clear message to Governor Murphy, Biden and the Army Corps: We do not want the Gibbstown terminal or any new Fossil Fuel infrastructure in our communities. This project would expose thousands of South Jersey residents to the fatal and lasting risks of explosive liquified natural gas every day and exacerbate already worsening effects of climate change. Governor Murphy and President Biden must prioritize the health and safety of New Jersey residents.”

So far, resolutions against the project have passed in Princeton, Pennsauken, Runnemede, Haddon Township, Riverton, Hazlet, Burlington City, Merchantville, Barrington, Maple Shade, National Park and Palmyra.

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