After months of heated
debate, the New Jersey Pinelands Commission Friday morning failed to approve a
variance that would have allowed work to proceed on a gas pipline through
environmentally sensitive areas of the state.
The commissioners,
sitting at the front of a room crowded with 100 vocal opponents and supporters
of the measure, explained their views and then voted 7 to 7 on the proposal.
The tie vote means the pipeline plan has been rejected. Eight votes were needed
in order for any action to be taken. Two of the commissioners voted by phone
and a third recused himself.
The minutes of the
meeting, including the vote, will be sent to Gov. Christie, who has the
authority to accept or reject the panel's decision.
About 15 miles of the
22-mile pipeline proposed by South Jersey Gas would have run through the
Pinelands, 10.2 miles in the forest area, along with another two miles in a
Pinelands rural development area and 2.7 miles in the Pinelands Village
management area. The proposed pipline would have run from Maurice Township in
Cumberland County to a proposed gas powered electrical power plant in Upper
Township in Cape May County.
Source: Philly.com
No comments:
Post a Comment