New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman has asked PresidentClinton to intercede on the state’s behalf to persuade the FederalEnergy Regulatory Commission to postpone action on the hotlycontested MarketLink expansion project for at least 60 days.

In letters to both President Clinton and FERC Chairman JamesHoecker, Whitman proposed the two-month delay so that New Jerseycould adequately review the final environmental impact statement(FEIS) that was favorable to MarketLink, as well as to theSupplyLink and Independence Pipeline projects.

Whitman’s letters weren’t responsible for FERC’s decision topull the controversial MarketLink expansion and the other projectsfrom its meeting agenda last week, said Bill Lansinger, seniorpolicy advisor to Hoecker. “I wouldn’t attribute it to any onething,” he noted. “There are frequently times in big-case decisionswhen it takes more than one Commission meeting agenda cycle for usto come to a vote, and that was the case [here].” He said Hoeckerhasn’t responded to Gov. Whitman’s request yet, but plans to do so.

In her letter to Clinton, Whitman wrote that a “decision of thismagnitude should not be reached in haste and should only be madeafter full deliberation and consideration of the concerns of thoseaffected, especially when there appears to be no demonstratedurgency” for Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line’s MarketLink project,which would traverse the northern portion of New Jersey.

“Based upon our initial review of the [final] EIS, I continue tooppose this pipeline project. I am not convinced that the need forthis project has been adequately demonstrated. Certainly, it hasnot been shown to be compelling enough to counterbalance theadverse impacts of the proposed construction route on the NewJersey environment and the safety and well-being of New Jerseycitizens,” she said.

A number of New Jersey lawmakers also sent letters to PresidentClinton seeking a delay in FERC action on the MarketLink expansion.They include Sens. Robert G. Torricelli and Frank Lautenberg, andReps. Rodney Frelinghuysen, William J. Pascrell, Steven Rothman andRush Holt. Rep. Barney Franks (D-MA) also sent a letter.

“Although the pipeline has not received its final permit fromthe FERC, I believe that the time is upon us to not only preparefor legal steps, but to engage in all appropriate political actionas well,” Whitman said in a prepared statement. Whitman hasthreatened to file legal action, possibly in the form of a requestfor a temporary restraining order, to block MarketLink if FERCshould approve the project.

“Our congressional delegation has pulled together in abipartisan fashion and [has] been fully supportive of our positionon this matter. I will be counting upon U.S. senators andrepresentatives to join me in appealing to the President and VicePresident to personally intervene by reviewing the proposedpipeline,” she noted.

FERC’s decision to pull the controversial MarketLink,SupplyLink, and Independence projects from last week’s meetingagenda didn’t trouble Transcontinental, the sole sponsor ofMarketLink and co-sponsor of Independence. But if the projectsaren’t on the agenda for the Commission’s Dec. 15 regular meeting,then it’ll be nail-biting time, says a Transco official.

“I would expect we’d show up on the next [agenda]. If we don’tshow up…..then we can all start really contemplating…..I’llstart worrying a little bit more,” said Jamie Craddock, who asTransco’s manager of project development oversees both theMarketLink and Independence projects.

In the meantime, she doesn’t believe FERC’s decision to strikethe projects from the agenda signaled trouble. “A lot of times whenthey [FERC Commissioners] have big orders to contemplate theyroutinely get pulled off the agenda for one reason or another.”That fact that it was “also a holiday week” complicated matters,she said.

The Commission’s decision not to act on the controversialprojects “doesn’t mean anything other than somebody wasn’t 100%ready,” Craddock told NGI. She doesn’t believe it was influenced byGov. Whitman’s threat of legal action to block MarketLink. NewJersey “had threatened to file that lawsuit even before we were onthe agenda. So I don’t know that that had a whole lot to do withit. You know it’s real easy to read a lot into things,” Craddocksaid.

In a related development, Texas Eastern Transmission deniedpublished reports that it also planned to sue if FERC approved theMarktetLink and Independence projects. “That’s totally premature.We have not gone out and said we would do that,” said Greg Rizzo,vice president of regulatory affairs, system planning and pricingfor Tetco. Asked if this was an option that Tetco was consideringfor the future, he replied, “we’ve not reached that point yet.”

Tetco, whose markets would be threatened if MarketLink andIndependence were approved, strongly objected to the FEIS that wasfavorable to both projects. It urged the Commission to postponefinal action on the projects “until a supplemental FEIS isprepared.” Tetco argued that FERC staff’s environmental study was”fundamentally and fatally flawed” from both a legal and proceduralstandpoint.

Ironically, one of the main drivers behind the New Jerseyopposition is a massive explosion on the Tetco mainline in thatstate which leveled a large apartment complex in 1994. Whitman isthe one who had to declare Edison, NJ, a disaster area at the time.Miraculously, a few minutes warning and an earthen embankmentallowed tenants to escape. Only one person died in the incident,but the spectacular blast that could be seen from Manhattan led toa congressional investigation and numerous calls for greaterpipeline safety measures and tighter oversight of pipelinefacilities. (See NGI, March 28, 1994) Since then Whitman hasmaintained states should have more authority over major facilitiesin their jurisdiction.

SupplyLink is a proposed expansion of ANR Pipeline’s existingsystem from Joliet, IL, to Defiance, OH. It would ship Canadian gassupplies to the greenfield Independence line, which would extendfrom Defiance to the Leidy Hub in Pennsylvania. At Leidy,MarketLink, an expansion of Transco’s existing system, wouldtransport additional gas supplies to Pennsylvania, New Jersey andother East Coast markets.

Susan Parker

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