Another Outrageous Attack on Pinelands and People’s Rights

On Friday, June 8^th, the Pinelands Commission will be voting to eliminate the rights of members of the public to an evidentiary hearing on permits. Until now, the Pinelands Commission has always recognized this right and held hearing for proposed permits in the Pines. Under Governor Christie, the Pinelands Commission became filled with, and controlled by, people who routinely vote for fossil fuel infrastructure over protecting the Pines. With this new law, they can approve permits without first holding a public evidentiary hearing.

“This is an outrageous attempt to take away the rights of the people of New Jersey that are impacted by dangerous projects in the Pinelands. The rule undermines the ability of people to fight back against projects that could hurt their homes or the environment of the Pinelands. The right of public participation has been recognized by the Commission since Day one and revoking it is a blatant attack on the environment and people of the Pines. People have the right to participate in decisions that have a direct impact on their lives and property. The Pinelands belong to all of New Jersey and the people have a right to speak out against projects that threaten the ecosystem and drinking water they provide,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “The Attorney General has signed off on this rule change, which means it has the support of the Murphy Administration. Murphy said he was going to protect the Pinelands but with this move, it does the opposite, hurting due process of the people who live there. We need Governor Murphy to step in and put a stop to this illegal vote by that strips the rights away from the people of New Jersey. Even if the Commission approves the vote, Governor Murphy can veto the minutes to prevent it from happening.”

This rule would prevent people from appealing decisions buy the Pinelands Commission to the Office of Administration Law. Even worse, it stops them from having to have evidentiary hearings on development applications in front of the Commission. This denies people the right to question their decisions by bringing in experts and providing evidence, even if they were wrong or deliberately lied. This is a direct result of the recent pipeline applications to the Pinelands Commission. Over the past eight years, multiple pipeline companies have tried to put natural gas lines through the Pinelands.

“This is one more in a series of attacks on the Pinelands over the past decade; it’s a shameful continuation of the Christie Administration’s pattern. This unconscionable vote is being pushed by climate-denier Commission Director Nancy Wittenberg who was originally appointed to be Christie’s puppet. She’s been trying to push this vote through for years. She, and some of the other Commissioners, will stop at nothing to try and push these pipelines through. She’s approved pipelines before without Commission votes and we had to take her to court to fight those approvals. Once again, she’s trying to justify a sham process that denies the public their right to speak out against this project,” said Jeff Tittel. “We need Governor Murphy to make new appointments to the Pinelands Commission because we need staff who will work to protect the rights of the Pinelands and the people who live in them, not work against them. Murphy also has the power to replace Wittenberg as head of the Commission.”

South Jersey Gas has proposed a pipeline through the Pines, as has New Jersey Natural Gas. Their Southern Reliability Link (SRL) pipeline would connect to a compressor station in Chesterfield and run 28 miles of pipe through Burlington, Monmouth, and Ocean Counties. The SJG pipeline would cut through the southern end of the Pines and connect to B.L. England plant. Both lines would threaten the ecosystems, communities, and drinking water in the Pinelands. These pipelines clearly violate the Pinelands rules because this type of infrastructure is only allowed through the Pinelands Forest Preservation Area, if it primarily serves the Pinelands, but they do not.

“When the Pinelands Act was passed forty years ago, one of the major reasons was to prevent pipelines coming through to connect offshore oil to refineries in southern New Jersey. Instead, the current Pinelands Commission has approved both the SJG and NJNG SRL pipelines during the Christie Administration because they’d rather side with the pipeline companies than the people they work for. The Commission represents the people of New Jersey and should be making decisions that reflect those people. Taking away evidentiary hearings mutes our voices to the Commission,” said Jeff Tittel. “For 40 years this rule has protected the rights of people and property-owners in the Pinelands. The Court had the opportunity to remove the provision and didn’t; making this decision indirectly held up by the courts.”

The Pinelands is the largest open space on the eastern seaboard and recognized for its biodiversity by the United Nations. It is also the country’s first National Reserve and holds 17 trillion gallons of water in its aquifer. Governor Christie had stacked the Commission with pro-fossil fuel advocates who approved these projects against the will of the people in the Pines and across New Jersey. South Jersey Gas (SJG) and New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) are both trying to push through gas pipelines by getting around the Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP). Public opposition has been instrumental in delaying these processes thus far.

“No longer is the Pinelands Commission an independent body with a purpose to protect the Pinelands. This vote is an act of betrayal of the people of New Jersey. The Commission has been rubberstamping dangerous pipelines for years and now they want to continue to do so with no public input. We must continue to protect the Pinelands because these pipelines they want to push through will create irreversible harm to wetlands, streams, as well as damage important open spaces, and threaten one of the largest sources of fresh drinking water on the east coast,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “During his campaign, Murphy promised to appoint Commissioners who believed in protecting the Pinelands. We want Murphy to block this vote and if they do vote, veto the minutes to stop it. We’re going to fight to save the Pinelands, whether it’s against pipelines, inappropriate development, clear-cutting forests, or bad rules. We will stand up for the Pines no matter who the Governor is!”