A coalition of environmental nonprofits is suing New York and New Jersey over both states’ decisions to green-light a gas pipeline.
The advocates are challenging the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s approvals of water quality certifications for the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project, which would expand the gas pipeline through Pennsylvania and New Jersey to New York, and supply National Grid customers in New York City and Long Island.
“Playing politics with clean water endangers all New Yorkers,” Roger Downs, conservation director of the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, said in a statement. “We cannot compromise our laws and scientific principles just to appease the Trump administration’s overreach.”
Both New York and New Jersey have previously denied water quality permits to the Williams Transco project. The expansion looked all but dead until it was revived by the Trump administration, which is championing fossil fuels over renewable energy generation.
