JERSEY CITY – U.S. Appeals Court this week rejected an attempt to void The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) certificate for the construction on the natural gas line through Bayonne and Jersey City.
The certificate was granted in May 2012 for a pipeline since built by Spectra Energy Corp. which serves the New York City metropolitan area.
After FERC issued the certificate giving the company the green light to construct, the City of Jersey City, NJ, Sierra Club, Food & Water Watch and NO Gas Pipeline, and among others, challenged the certificate, claiming in various petitions that FERC had not met National Environmental Policy Act requirements. Jersey City filed a separate motion challenging FERC’s legal authority to conduct process, claiming FERC could be biased in favor of the gas line company. Judge David Sentelle dismissed both petitions saying neither had merit. – By Al Sullivan