A compressor station constructed on the site of a quarry in West Milford to bring natural gas to New York state does not violate environmental standards in New Jersey’s Highlands Water Protection and Planning Act, an appellate court has ruled, ending a four-year battle brought by environmentalists.
The ruling found that the state Department of Environmental Protection had acted properly in 2021 when it granted Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. an “Exemption 11” under the Highlands Act. This exemption allows a public utility to upgrade lines and systems if the project is consistent with the goals of the state’s water protection and planning act.
The Highlands Act was adopted in 2004 to protect the watershed from overdevelopment.
“Having reviewed the extensive record, we discern nothing arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable in the DEP’s determinations,” the appellate panel wrote June 27 in a ruling that apparently ends four years of litigation in the case.
The appellate panel noted at this point in the legal battle, the project is already built and has been operating for more than two years. “There is no showing that the station’s operation has been detrimental to the Highlands area,” the appellate court pointed out.
Tennessee Gas owns and operates a natural gas pipeline system that runs from Texas to the eastern United States. The utility received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to build and operate upgrades to its 300 Line, which includes Compressor Station 327 in West Milford, to move larger volumes of natural gas to meet increased demand in Westchester County, New York.
Compressor Station 327 is on a 47-acre property in West Milford, a site that previously was used as a gravel quarry, pipe storage yard, and recycling storage facility.
Because the site was in the Highlands Preservation Area, DEP approval was also required. DEP determined that the project was consistent with the area’s water quality management plan because the facility would use less than 650 gallons of water per day, and wastewater output would be less than 2,000 gallons per day.
Three environmental advocacy groups – Food and Water Watch, the NJ Highlands Coalition, and the Sierra Club – had appealed DEP’s 2021 decision, arguing that the language of Highlands Act should require that all upgrades at existing sites be “routine.”
The New Jersey Supreme Court disagreed and in 2024 remanded the case back to the appellate division.
“In making our determination, we follow the guidance provided by the Supreme Court,” the appellate court said. “The (Supreme) Court stated, ‘the Highlands Act does not preclude development in [the preservation] area; it limits only development that is incompatible with preservation and would therefore cause a decline in the environmental quality of the region.’”
Attorney David Kott of McCarter & English filed an amicus brief on behalf of NJBIA in this matter when it was before the Supreme Court in 2024. That decision was heralded as a win for the business community because the court dismissed the plaintiffs’ broad interpretation of the language in the Highlands Act.
