"A proposed natural gas pipeline that has faced opposition from groups in both New York and New Jersey has won the endorsement of the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which has final approval over the $850 million project."
"In a report released on Friday, staff members firmed up a preliminary conclusion they had reached after a study that any environmental effects from the pipeline could be reduced to “less than significant” levels. The staff members, who held hearings last fall on a draft report in which they recommended approval of the project, have ultimately deemed construction and operation of the pipeline “an environmentally acceptable action.”
The project now awaits a vote by the five-member commission.
The project, planned by Spectra Energy of Houston, consists of 15 miles of new pipeline that would run from Staten Island through Bayonne, N.J., and Jersey City to the West Village in Manhattan, where it would connect to Con Edison’s distribution system beneath West Street. It would lie as deep as 200 feet under both industrial lands and highly populated areas, including homes, and cross more than 30 bodies of water, including the Hudson River."
Mireya Navarro reports for the New York Times March 17, 2012.
