The PennEast Pipeline Co. has received a water permit from the state of Pennsylvania that the company announced Monday as an important regulatory milestone in building the $1 billion natural gas pipeline.
The pipeline company received a Water Quality Certificate on Friday from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, as required by section 401 of the Federal Clean Water Act, the company said.
It's commonly called a 401 Water Quality Certification, and PennEast touted it as a major prerequisite to receiving a federal license or permit for activities that involve waterways.
It validates that the company has "effective measures in place to minimize impacts on streams and other waterways during the construction, as well as long-term operation, of the PennEast Pipeline," PennEast said in a statement.
Jeff Logan, president of the Pennsylvania Chemical Industry Council, hailed the development in the PennEast announcement.
"This is great news for all those who use natural gas, especially for the region's energy-intensive chemical industry and the more than 80,000 Pennsylvania and New Jersey residents the industry employs," Logan said.
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The New Jersey Conservation Foundation and ReThink Energy NJ, a PennEast opponent, said the project still faces "tremendous opposition and a long uphill battle in New Jersey."
"We are disappointed that (Pa. DEP) rushed to approve permits for PennEast despite the significant impacts the pipeline would have on our water, land and wildlife," said Tom Gilbert, campaign director of the organization.
Gilbert said the water permit does not change the fact that PennEast does not have approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and hasn't begun the process to obtain permits from the Delaware River Basin Commission and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.
FERC is scheduled to issue the pipeline's environmental impact statement, or EIS, in April.
The 36-inch-diameter, 110-mile natural gas pipeline will go from Pennsylvania to New Jersey, through Hunterdon and Mercer counties before ending at a location in Hopewell Township. A connector pipeline, also 36 inches in diameter, will link it to an existing compressor in West Amwell.
PennEast maintains that the project will reduce energy costs and support thousands of jobs with clean-burning, American energy. The company hopes it will be operational in the second half 2018.
Opponents of PennEast maintain it's an environmental nightmare that will cut a scar through communities, preserved open space and farmland and destroy ecosystems.
Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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