(The Center Square) – Developers of the long-contested Constitution Pipeline have reactivated an application with federal regulators that could allow for the delivery of natural gas produced in Pennsylvania to power up to 3 million homes in New York and New England.
The status of a state-level environmental permit remains unclear. Developers are seeking a waiver for a permit in New York, where the project has met resistance.
Constitution, a subsidiary of Oklahoma-based Williams Companies, wants to build a 124-mile pipeline that would transport 650 million cubic feet natural gas per day produced in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus supply basin to a hub near Albany, New York. The gas would be transported from there to users in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine via other pipelines.
Constitution initially received federal approvals for the project more than a decade ago. In a Dec. 22 filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the company seeks to reinstate approval of a national water quality permit granted in 2014 that had lapsed.
That same year, the New York Department of Environmental Conservation cited insufficient information and data related to the pipeline’s potential impacts.
In 2016, New York regulators determined Constitution had not adequately explored alternative routes that would have entirely avoided sensitive ecological areas. Developers planned to clear about 500 to 700 acres of forest in New York and Pennsylvania, including old-growth forests near hundreds of streams.
The project remained stalled until this year, when the company reapplied for a New York permit in May.
After receiving Notices of Insufficient Information in July, August and September, the company withdrew its application in November and now seeks a waiver on the state-level permit, according to the regulator’s website. The company points to a 2018 decision by federal regulators that New York waived its authority to issue a water quality certification for the pipeline.
The pipeline has also taken the political spotlight, with Republicans accusing Democrat-led New York of blocking a development they say would benefit the Northeast.
President Donald Trump said in a press briefing in February that the pipeline’s construction is essential for “energy dominance” and for reducing consumer costs in the region, where residents pay some of the highest natural gas and electricity prices in the country.
Opponents, who want to lessen the region’s reliance on fossil fuels, have said the pipeline will affect pollution levels more than prices.
Trump met with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in March to discuss the project. Following the meeting, he criticized New York political leaders on social media for “holding up” the development, and he threatened to use “other authorities” to overrule state permitting power.
A separate pipeline supported by Trump received New York regulators’ approval in November.
The Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline, another Williams Companies project, had been rejected by New York environmental regulators three times before it was revived this spring following talks between Trump and Hochul. The project could increase natural gas supply in the New York City area by 400 million cubic feet a day.
