Federal judge rules in favor of PennEast Pipeline for use of eminent domain

United States District Court Judge Brian Martinotti of Newark ruled Friday the PennEast Pipeline Co. LLC is granted access to use eminent domain to seize properties it requires in New Jersey in order to perform surveys.United States District Court Judge Brian Martinotti of Newark ruled Friday the PennEast Pipeline Co. LLC is granted access to use eminent domain to seize properties it requires in New Jersey in order to perform surveys.

“The PennEast Pipeline Company is pleased with today’s ruling allowing the project to take another step forward in delivering low-cost, reliable energy that strengthens New Jersey’s economy and creates thousands of jobs,” Tony Cox, chairman of the PennEast Board of Managers said in a prepared statement. “Once in operation, PennEast will provide the low-cost energy for ratepayers to ultimately support future investments in higher cost wind and solar. Our immediate next steps are to perform routine land, environmental and other ground-level surveys. These surveys will update and confirm data for certain federal and state permitting guidelines.”

Timothy Duggan, a lawyer at Lawrenceville-based Stark & Stark represents several non-profit organizations, governmental entities and about 40 private properties owners who are defending the lawsuit filed by PennEast to take properties. 

“The United States District Court for New Jersey granted PennEast’s request for immediate access to the New Jersey properties along the proposed pipeline route and to use the power of eminent domain to take land rights,” Duggan said in a statement. “This decision follows the decision of a Judge in the Middle District of Pennsylvania who made a similar ruling against a property owner in Pennsylvania for the same pipeline.”

“This is a temporary setback for the property owners,” Duggan said. “PennEast is a long ways off from getting a shovel in the ground and needs numerous approvals and permits to actually construct the pipeline, including getting approvals from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The property owners that are against the pipeline know this is a tough battle, but they are willing to go the distance.”

The pipeline will pump natural gas from the Marcellus Shale region and stretch from Luzerne County through Carbon, Northampton and Bucks counties in Pennsylvania, then across the Delaware River into Hunterdon and Mercer counties in New Jersey. If built, the pipeline is expected to affect a total of 1,585 acres in both states, and its operation would affect 788 additional acres, according to FERC’s decision.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission previously issued its Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for the proposed 116-mile natural gas pipeline on Jan. 19.