Pipeline plan through N.J. Pinelands draws opposition
Some southern New Jersey residents are voicing their opposition to a plan to build a natural gas pipeline through the Pinelands.
A few dozen spoke at the Pinelands Commission in Pemberton on Friday.
The proposed 22-mile pipeline would go from Maurice River Township in Cumberland County to a proposed electrical generation plant in Cape May County’s Upper Township.
Fourteen miles of the pipeline would run through the Pinelands underneath Route 49.
Opponents say the pipeline would violate a management plan for the Pinelands that allows public-service infrastructure in the protected, one-million-acre forest only if it primarily serves the needs of the Pinelands.
Representatives of South Jersey Gas, which has applied to build the line, were at the meeting but didn’t speak.
The Pinelands Commission is considering the plan.
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