The proposed $500 million, 97-mile-long Northern Access Pipeline project that would have carried Marcellus Shale gas from Sergeant Township, Pa., to Upstate New York has been canceled by the National Fuel Gas Co., in a move that has angered Republican lawmakers.
“The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s decision to stand in the way of this key natural gas pipeline infrastructure project — despite federal approval — caused extensive delays and increased project costs, with the ongoing challenge of trying to develop in the current regulatory environment in New York,” wrote U.S. Reps. John Joyce, Mike Kelly, Dan Meuser, Guy Reschenthaler, and Glenn “GT” Thompson, all GOP members representing Pennsylvania, and six members representing New York in a Dec. 5 letter sent to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
“This action has once again robbed our state of a key opportunity for greater energy security and prevented increased access across the Northeast, the Midwest, and Canada to affordable, reliable natural gas,” they wrote.
Additionally, the lawmakers pointed out that the Hochul administration’s overly broad interpretation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) has led to blocked energy projects in the region and cost New York and states like Pennsylvania significant economic opportunities.
“As a result of your government’s continued opposition to new natural gas pipeline infrastructure in this manner, along with the extensive, frivolous litigation brought by radical environmental groups, the proposed Northern Access Pipeline project was ultimately abandoned,” they wrote.
The goal of the proposed pipeline had been to supply markets in western New York and the Midwest with natural gas, as well as provide gas for export to Canada through the Empire system, and to New York and New England through the Tennessee Gas Pipeline 200 line. Construction of the Northern Access Pipeline would have represented an estimated $500 million investment, with much of that going directly into New York.
“The denial of the Northern Access Pipeline project will only hold our state and our nation back from greater energy independence and greater affordability for millions of Americans,” wrote the members. “We urge your administration to reconsider its decision to interpret Section 401 of the Clean Water Act in such an overly broad manner and to stand in the way of these important pipeline infrastructure projects in the future.”
They also noted that Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have taken action to address this issue by passing the Lower Energy Costs Act, H.R. 1, which includes provisions to prevent states like New York from using an overly broad interpretation of the CWA to obstruct federally approved projects, according to their letter.
Joining the Pennsylvania Republicans in signing the letter were U.S. Reps. Nick Langworthy (R-NY), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Michael Lawler (R-NY), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY), Andrew Garbarino (R-NY), and Nick LaLota (R-NY).