New Jersey’s attorney general (AG) yesterday said he will seek acourt appeal of FERC’s decision awarding a certificate toTranscontinental Gas Pipe Line to proceed with the construction ofa pipeline expansion through the northern part of the state.

The appeal will be filed at the request of Gov. Christine ToddWhitman in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. NewJersey plans to seek the appeal “as soon as possible,” said AGspokesman Chuck Davis, who added it has up to 60 days to bring thecourt challenge.

In rejecting the state’s petition for rehearing on Tuesday, FERC”overlooked the impact such construction would have on theresidents and the environment,” said AG John J. Farmer Jr. in aprepared statement.

The state intends to argue that FERC failed in its legalobligation to properly address the safety of the proposedexpansion, failed to protect New Jersey’s environment and failed toproperly consider a proposed alternative to the expansion.

By 3-1, FERC earlier this week voted out the certificate for theMarketLink project, which would expand Transco’s existing system inPennsylvania and northern New Jersey by 700 MMcf/d. The proposedproject has been hotly contested by landowners in both states, bythe New Jersey delegation on Capitol Hill and by Gov. Whitman.

New Jersey’s announcement to challenge FERC’s decision comes asno surprise. Last year, Whitman threatened to take the Commissionto court if it gave the go-ahead for MarketLink. She even appealedto President Clinton for help. The state won a reprieve in Decemberwhen FERC approved the MarketLink expansion, but withheld itscertificate until it could produce evidence of further marketsupport for the project.

However, the Commission acknowledged this week that MarketLinkhad met the test, producing precedent agreements for nearly 100% ofthe firm capacity to be created by the expansion. About 40% of theproject’s firm capacity has been committed to non-affiliates, whileabout 60% is subscribed by affiliates.

Transco’s certificate is conditioned on the pipeline firstsubmitting executed contracts for all of the expansion capacity,ridding its project contracts of market-out clauses and showingthat its contracts will not hinge on the availability of upstreamtransportation on the proposed Independence Pipeline.

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