Victory: PennEast Pipeline stops development of natural gas pipeline

The PennEast Pipeline Company has just stopped pursuing a proposed gas pipeline project for a Pennsylvania-New Jersey natural gas line.

According to Common Dreams, PennEast decided to cease development because of difficulties acquiring certain state permits.

“The PennEast partners, following extensive evaluation and discussion, recently determined further development of the project no longer is supported,” writes PennEast in an email. 

Environmental activists and public health advocates are in celebration over this decision after years of opposing the pipeline. 

“This is a huge victory. Today, water, the environment, and people spoke louder than fossil fuels. We congratulate and thank the many local, state, and federal officials of both parties and thousands of residents for their determined opposition to this unnecessary and destructive proposal,” says Jim Waltman, executive director of the New Jersey-based Watershed Institute.

“PennEast’s cancellation of this unneeded, dangerous fracked gas pipeline is a momentous win for the communities that have fought hard for years to defend their property and the environment,” says Joseph Otis Minott, Clean Air Council executive director and chief counsel.

The project was one of several started in recent years to draw gas from the fast-growing Appalachian region, only to run into local or environmental opposition to more fossil-fuel infrastructure. Gas prices have surged in Europe and Asia due to rising demand and lack of supply, and that has boosted U.S. gas prices to seven-year highs, reports Reuters.