The Borough of Woodlynne passed a resolution on January 12 opposing a plan by New Fortress Energy to build a massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Gibbstown, Gloucester County.

The Woodlynne 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. 

This week’s vote is the eighteenth resolution to pass opposing the project.

“I’m happy because my main concern was for the health and safety of the residents of Woodlynne,“ said Woodlynne Borough Councilwoman Shana Feliciano. “With all that we have to worry about with COVID and everything we’ve gone through in the last couple years, we don’t need anything else coming through our town and threatening our health and safety” 

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.

While the planned transport routes have not been disclosed to the public, train routes would pass on tracks only a mile from Woodlynne, as well as densely-populated urban areas in North Philadelphia and Camden. LNG is exceptionally dangerous: if ignited, it can burn into a fire too hot to extinguish. An LNG explosion at a Washington plant in 2014 led to emergency evacuation of a two-mile radius.

“This decision was made possible due to the receptivity of the Woodlynne Council members like Councilwoman Feliciano and persistent work of residents,” said Food & Water Watch Organizer Noa Gordon-Guterman. “Residents and elected officials sent a clear message to Governor Murphy, President Biden and the Army Corps: We do not want the Gibbstown terminal or any new fossil fuel infrastructure in our communities. Woodlyne’s vote against the Gibbstown LNG terminal is part of a growing effort throughout New Jersey to stop this dangerous project in its tracks. This project would expose thousands of South Jersey residents to the serious risks of explosive liquified natural gas, and exacerbate already worsening effects of climate change.”

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

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