Dozens of organizations released a letter to Governor Murphy and DEP Commissioner Sean LaTourette to halt the ongoing construction work tied to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline (TGP) East 300 project. 

In late August, the State Superior Court ruled in favor of a suit brought by several environmental groups that argued the DEP should not have issued an exemption to the Highlands Act to carry out the project – which includes a major new gas compressor station in West Milford, and the expansion of two existing compressor stations.

The ruling essentially meant that, unless DEP decides otherwise, TGP does not have a permit for the work that is still being done on the West Milford compressor station. As the letter states: “Ongoing project construction within the Preservation Area has been extensively documented and regularly reported to DEP enforcement over several weeks. This is an ongoing and significant violation of one of our state’s most important environmental laws.”

“The reckless East 300 expansion poses a threat to clean water and a safe climate,” said Food & Water Watch organizer Sam DiFalco. “The courts have made it clear that DEP should not have granted Tennessee Gas an exemption for this project. Why is Governor Murphy and the NJ DEP allowing construction to continue? It’s past time for the Murphy administration to do the right thing and pull the plug on this massive fracking expansion.”

The letter – led by Food & Water Watch, the NJ Highlands Coalition and the Sierra Club of New Jersey, and signed by fifty other groups across the state – points out that the intent of the Highlands Act was to “protect the water and natural resources of the New Jersey Highlands.” Local communities have argued for years that the construction endangers a key drinking water supply for millions of people. 

“We opposed the NJDEP’s granting of the Exemption because the construction of the West Milford Compressor Station by TGP clearly is in violation of the goals and objectives of the Highlands Act,” said Elliott Ruga, Policy and Communications Director of the New Jersey Highlands Coalition. “Now that the Appellate Division has invalidated the Exemption, why has DEP allowed construction to continue? Whose interests are the NJDEP protecting? The people of New Jersey, or Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s?”

The East 300 project itself undermines the Murphy administration’s stated commitment to dealing with the climate crisis and transitioning New Jersey to 100% clean energy by 2035. The project aims to deliver additional fracked gas to New York state, which has a climate law that requires dramatic reductions in pollution.

“The Tennessee Gas Pipeline no longer has a permit for construction in New Jersey, point blank. There is no excuse as to why construction on this fossil fuel project continues when it is now illegal,” said Anjuli Ramos-Busot, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “New Jersey does not need this dirty project, and the courts are on the correct side. The NJ Chapter, along with over 50 other environmental organizations and partners, demand that the DEP and Governor Murphy issue a stop work order immediately to protect our communities and environment.”