The Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders has authorized the county attorney to file the necessary paperwork to allow the board to intervene in a Federal Regulatory Commission application filed by Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC.
In March, the company – also known as Transco – filed an application seeking a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to construct its Northeast Supply Enhancement Project.
The project will enable Transco to provide an additional 400,000 dekatherms per day of incremental firm transportation service from its Compressor Station 195 in Pennsylvania to its offshore Rockaway Transfer Point in New York State. The proposed Compressor Station 206 will be located adjacent to the Trap Rock Quarry in Franklin Township.
“Our first responsibility is for the health and safety of Somerset County residents, and quite frankly, we are not convinced the need for this facility outweighs those concerns, especially since it would be located in proximity to both residential and commercial buildings as well as preserved open space,” said Freeholder Mark Caliguire, open space liaison. “We are not convinced that Transco can mitigate the substantial adverse environmental and societal impacts that the compressor station could create.”
“By intervening in Transco’s application we are serving the public’s best interests,” said Freeholder Brian D. Levine, a former Franklin mayor. “This will give us a seat at the table so that we can keep abreast of the proceedings.”
The new, 32,000-horsepower compressor station near Transco’s mainline will consist of two Solar Mars 100 compressor units and gas cooling. Pending regulatory approval, Transco anticipates having the Somerset County station and related project components in Pennsylvania and New York State operational by the end of 2019.
The Freeholders’ resolution, approved at their April 25 meeting, authorizes County Counsel William T. Cooper III “to take the necessary steps so that Somerset County can intervene and become a party to FERC regulatory matter, Docket No. CP17-101-000.”
The Transco pipeline is owned by Oklahoma-based Williams Companies Inc. Click here for additional information about the Compressor Station 206 project.
