By William Opalka

New York environmental officials on Friday denied a water quality permit for a 124-mile pipeline that would have delivered shale gas from Pennsylvania to markets in eastern New York and New England.

The New York Department of Environmental Conservation said developers of the Constitution Pipeline failed to address regulators’ concerns during a yearlong review.

The water quality permit, which is required under Section 401 of the federal Clean Water Act, was the last regulatory approval needed by Williams Partners and its co-developers, Cabot Oil & Gas, Piedmont Natural Gas, and WGL Holdings, for the pipeline through northeastern Pennsylvania and New York.

FERC approved the pipeline in December 2014, but developers lost the 2016 construction season when FERC would not allow limited tree cutting along the project route after New York officials protested because of the lack of the Section 401 permit. (See Constitution Pipeline Delayed Nearly a Year.)

Failed to Address Environmental Concerns

The DEC said Constitution’s “application fails in a meaningful way to address the significant water resource impacts that could occur from this project and has failed to provide sufficient information to demonstrate compliance with New York state water quality standards.”

Constitution said it “will pursue all available options to challenge the legality” of the decision. The project was intended to deliver 650,000 dekatherms of natural gas per day to the Wright, N.Y., compressor station for transport farther east.

“In spite of NYSDEC’s unprecedented decision, we remain absolutely committed to building this important energy infrastructure project, which will create an important connection between consumers and reliable supplies of clean, affordable natural gas. We believe NYSDEC’s stated rationale for the denial includes flagrant misstatements and inaccurate allegations, and appears to be driven more by New York state politics than by environmental science,” the company said in a statement released Monday.

The department blamed the company for failing to adequately address its concerns about the project’s impact on 251 streams and 500 acres of forest. The denial also cited the short- and long-term effects of trenching during construction, the loss of shade critical to stream health and the impact the loss of vegetation would have on potential flooding.

“Although the department repeatedly asked Constitution to analyze alternative routes that could have avoided or minimized impacts to an extensive group of water resources, as well as to address other potential impacts to these resources, Constitution failed to substantively address these concerns,” the DEC wrote.

Constitution said it “voluntarily agreed” to incorporate re-routes, adopt trenchless construction methods, commit to trout stream restoration and spend $18 million for wetland mitigation and $8.6 million for migratory bird habitat restoration and preservation.

Tree Cutting

The department was also annoyed that it received reports that landowners, “possibly with Constitution’s knowledge, clear cut old-growth trees along the right of way for the pipeline, including trees near streams and water bodies, even after the FERC ruled that Constitution could not cut trees in the right of way.”

Constitution said that allegation is “completely inaccurate and contradicts the third-party environmental monitors working on behalf of FERC.”

The DEC said it conducted a “rigorous review,” including receipt of 15,000 public comments.

Environmentalists lauded the decision.

“Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo’s rejection of the Constitution Pipeline represents a turning of the tide, where states across the nation that have been pressured into accepting harmful gas infrastructure projects by FERC may now feel emboldened to push back,” said Roger Downs, conservation director for the Sierra Club’s Atlantic Chapter. “Cuomo’s leadership could inspire a domino effect of related pipeline rejections as other states begin to put the protection of water and our climate before flawed energy projects that do not serve the public interest.”

Constitution’s rejection came two days after Kinder Morgan announced it was shelving its Northeast Energy Direct pipeline, which was to deliver Pennsylvania shale gas through New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. It cited an uncertain regulatory climate for the project as well as a lack of commitments from electric utility customers. (See Kinder Morgan Suspends Northeast Energy Direct Pipeline.)