Lawyer says pipeline’s upcoming is at stake in Supreme Court land dispute

A lawyer symbolizing the PennEast pipeline stated that its future is at stake throughout oral arguments ahead of the Supreme Courtroom on Wednesday. 

Law firm Paul Clement explained it is possible that the pipeline will not be developed if PennEast is not allowed to use eminent area to seize land belonging to the point out of New Jersey to total it.

“If we get rid of this circumstance, then this pipeline will not be designed, at the very least at something like its present-day configuration, and based on how exactly we reduce this circumstance, I believe this federal interstate pipeline, until the regulation is improved, will be at the mercy of New Jersey, since I really don’t imagine there is a way to reroute this pipeline in a way that doesn’t implicate a condition curiosity in land,” Clement said.

“This pipeline has to cross the Delaware River somewhere and 50 {dcfa4b42334872b3517041d7075c48816e8f617446b245cec30e8949517ffd84} of the Delaware River belongs to New Jersey so there’s just no way for this pipeline to exist under the present-day regulation,” he additional. 

The $1 billion prepared PennEast pipeline would span 120 miles and carry natural gas from Pennsylvania to New Jersey.

The corporation argued that it can use eminent area to seize land simply because it was deputized to do so by the federal federal government, as the Federal Electricity Regulatory Commission authorized the venture. 

On the other hand, New Jersey argued that undertaking so would violate its sovereign immunity guarding it from lawsuits. 

The U.S. federal government is siding with PennEast on the issue.