Pipeline Blow Out Causes House Condemnation
Soon after drilling sludge entered a local stream, an Upper Freehold resident was forced to leave her house.
Released by New Jersey Sierra Club, Pinelands Preservation Alliance, People over Pipelines, Food & Water Watch NJ
“I was almost too terrified to investigate after what had felt like an explosion in my house. I discovered huge cracks in my foundation, my basement floor, and even my walls! As I watched in horror water and sludge came pouring in through the cracks. I ran to the construction site and begged them to stop”- Impacted Homeowner, Upper Freehold Township
The Chesterfield Building Inspector condemned a resident’s home yesterday due to a hydrological incident involving drilling. The slab of the home cracked due to hydrostatic pressure and the building inspector advised the residents to leave for their safety. New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) is currently drilling in Upper Freehold for their Southern Reliability Link (SRL) pipeline and already caused siltation in nearby streams. The NJ Sierra Club sent a letter to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) urging them to take action and put in a stop-work order for the pipeline.
“Today there was a disaster, someone’s house is being condemned because DEP and Governor Murphy did not put a stop-work order on this SRL pipeline. This unnecessary and damaging pipeline has caused a nightmare for residents along the route. Even though there were violations early in the project, NJNG continued to drill. This was after a discharge that caused siltation in nearby streams and may have caused a blowout. This has caused water and other groundwater that has ended up at this resident’s home causing it to be condemned, ” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We have asked the DEP, Governor Murphy, and the Pinelands Commission for a stay because we are challenging NJNG in court. What we have been warning against has now happened. Since DEP and the county did not hold NJNG accountable after continued violations, we now have a catastrophe because of that.”
The Allentown fire department was called as was the building inspector. Grey material in the stream appears to be bentonite, which contains hazardous materials. The town’s building inspector believes this was caused by hydrological pressure from horizontal directional drilling (“HDD”) that came through the ground and moved the resident’s basement slab, destabilizing the house.
“PPA and Sierra Club raised the fact that New Jersey Natural Gas had done no meaningful studies of the hydrological risks of construction along this pipeline route,” said Carleton Montgomery, Executive Director of Pinelands Preservation Alliance. “We submitted expert reports demonstrating that the company’s proposed methods were unduly risky. Yet the company insisted on a route along well-populated local roads, and the Pinelands Commission, Board of Public Utilities (BPU), and DEP all just rubber-stamped the company’s assertions that all would be well. It is especially galling that all this harm is being done for a pipeline that is completely unnecessary for serving the public.”
The proposed SRL pipeline would connect to a compressor station in Chesterfield and run 28 miles of pipe through Burlington, Monmouth, and Ocean Counties. NJNG has claimed the pipeline is for reliability and not necessity.
“Governor Murphy’s inability to protect his constituents from a corporation acting with total negligence and disregard for the safety of New Jersey communities is, frankly, embarrassing,” said Food & Water Action NJ Director Matt Smith. “With the reckless decision to allow pipeline construction to continue during the worst days of the pandemic, the Murphy administration has created extremely dangerous conditions for pipeline workers and local residents alike. While sheltering at home, residents have suffered from noxious diesel fumes entering their homes, with streets and driveways blocked for hours at a time blocking food and medicine deliveries, and now the literal destruction and flooding of someone’s home due to pipeline drilling activities. Since New Jersey Natural Gas has ignored prior stop-work orders by Burlington County for violating their permit conditions, this latest incident is clear and final proof that the whole pipeline project needs to be shut down for good. We’re still waiting for Governor Murphy to act.”
The SRL is disastrous for the Pinelands, which is the largest open space on the eastern seaboard and recognized for its biodiversity by the United Nations. It is also the country’s first National Reserve and holds 17 trillion gallons of water in its aquifer.
“I was aghast to see the creeks and streams on her property that were clear and filled with minnows just the day before to be covered in a muddy gray substance. This siltation has bentonite and other hazardous chemicals in it that will have serious impacts to groundwater and nearby homes,” said Agnes Marsala, President of People Over Pipelines.
“At a minimum, BPU and DEP need to halt construction and ask the Appeals Court to rule on our pending appeals against the pipeline approvals. There is no justification for continuing dangerous construction when the very legality of the pipeline is very much in doubt,” said Montgomery and Tittel.
More resources
Find up-to-date coverage about this incident on NJ.com here.
NJ Homes are cracking due to hydrostatic pressure related to natural gas drilling in the NJ area. NJ Natural Gas (NJNG) is currently drilling in Upper Freehold for their SRL pipeline, an unnecessary addition to fossil fuel dependency. Investigators have found bentonite, a hazardous material, showing up in NJ streams due to hydrological pressure, aka natural gas fracking. I want to remind you that Natural Gas is a fossil fuel, natural gas is NOT a renewable energy resource, and natural gas is NOT clean energy. Natural gas still burns fossil fuels found deep in the underground shale rock. Natural gas still emits greenhouse gases such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxides, and methane, so do not be fooled by those who don’t believe in science telling you Natural Gas is “clean and green” because it is not.
I am writing to Governor Murphy, the Pinelands Commission, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, and the NJ Board of Public Utilities to stop the work order on the SRL pipeline causing damage in NJ.
I am calling on you, to stop natural gas fracking and fossil fuel dependency in NJ. And I am calling on you to take the initiative to transition to Renewable Energy across NJ and Invest in Renewable Energy implementation state wide.
Wind and solar not gas.
This is a very serious crime against this woman and her home and the nature and wildlife around the area involved. People involved in continuing the pipeline when there was a stop order need to be jailed and charges pressed.
All they care about is money and have no regard for people or the environment. Maybe someone can follow the money and find the corrupt people at the source of this and lock them up, too. Wildlife will die from drinking the water. This poor woman had to leave her home with no notice; who would want to face that possibility? Nobody.
And here we go again! Instead of crude oil spilling from the Exxon Valdez in Alaska, we now have toxic chemicals and gases resulting from an illegal NJNG pipeline running through our Pinelands! I feel so sad for that poor homeowner and her neighbors! It’s now more apparent than ever that project must be stopped!
How is it that NJNG can ignore a cease-and-desist order and get away with doing so? We are FED UP with fighting and winning and having lying arrogants doing WTH they want anyway around pipelines — UNNECESSARY pipelines at that.
This a crime, that these homeowners have to leave their home. And as a result of Jersey Natural Gas these folks’ house has been condemned! This is not to mention the environmental impact on the local creeks and aquifer! All this for a pipeline that was deemed unnecessary. All the residents in that are being affected one way or another and this drilling must be terminated immediately!
the fossil fuel industry has been getting with murder far too long. Our elected officials need to grow a pair and stop ALL pipelines that are proposed. It has been proven it is all about money!! It makes you wonder who besides the industry is getting rich from our peril, or do you wonder? MURPHY cease and desist, NO more pipeline projects. NONE!!!