With the anticipated approval of the PennEast pipeline, local organizations are concerned the project could have severe environmental and residential ramifications.

During a conference at the Carbon County Courthouse Annex on Thursday morning, Save Carbon County President Linda Christman said tree clearing and eminent domain proceedings could begin soon.

“We expect that FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, will give the Penn­East pipeline the certificate they need to proceed with the pipeline construction,” Christman said.

The agenda for the November meeting does not include Penn­East, but another meeting is scheduled Dec. 21.

Christman expects PennEast to ask for pre-construction approval, which means that they would be allowed to cut trees in Carbon County throughout the route.

Invasive impact

Lehigh Gap Nature Center program specialists Chad Schwartz and Brian Birchak addressed the clear-cutting issue, pointing out the potential destruction of protected parks, farmlands, waterways and forests.

“We all know what invasive species are. They’re given that name because they are opportunists, and they do out-compete our local plants and vegetation. That is going to be a problem with this impact site,” Birchak said.

Birchak said invasive species such as the tree of heaven and the spotted lantern fly could flourish in clear-cut areas, edging out domestic species, and in some cases, destroying them. Tree of heaven, originally from Asia, can quickly take over a clear cut region and grow rapidly, in addition to producing a chemical that inhibits other plant growth.

“It is a problem. It looks just like our native sumac, which is a desired plant, only it spreads like wildfire,” Birchak said.

The spotted lantern fly prefers the tree of heaven as a host plant, and the adults are a threat to grapes, stone fruits and lumber trees. This makes farms, orchards and other commercial operations a prime target for the fly, with the potential for devastating losses of crops.

“We are hoping that PennEast has somewhat of an ecological bone in their body, that they will maintain this site to prevent anything like that from happening,” Birchak said.

Furthermore, if the clear cutting does occur, local forests could be subjected to an excessive level of light that the land has not seen in decades, potentially making the area inhospitable to native species of plants and animals.

The 114-mile pipeline would run from Luzerne County to New Jersey, weaving its way through Penn Forest, Kidder, Towamensing and Lower Towamensing townships in Carbon County.

Pre-cutting

Even if the pipeline is ultimately stopped, pre-cutting for the project may be inevitable, as the state’s Department of Environmental Protection “only regulates in limited situations and cannot prevent early tree cutting” when it comes to “pre-construction,” according to Save Carbon County’s statement.

“If the pipeline is stopped, which we believe it will be, the tree cutting will have already occurred, and the damage to our environment will already be irretrievably lost,” Christman said.

Abigail M. Jones, staff attorney for environmental advocacy organization PennFuture, spoke of the problematic set of regulations that the DEP follows in regard to pipeline projects.

“In Pennsylvania, DEP allows a pipeline to move forward with clear cutting a route that may not be final. Indeed, when the state reviews the information for its water quality permits, the DEP could actually require a change in the pipeline route to protect sensitive environmental areas. So DEP itself could be the one who is changing the route that it has certified as protecting water quality. But at that point, it’s already too late for those places that have been subjected to eminent domain, clear cutting, and other ‘pre-construction activities’ that damage our environment and our water.”

Jones and PennFuture are simply asking the DEP to eliminate that provision, and the local environment from what could be needless damage. Jones said that this change could be implemented without any input from FERC.

“We have a constitutional right for clean air, pure water, and the preservation of natural, scenic, historic, and aesthetic values to the environment,” she said. “Penn­Future calls on the DEP to actually be the department that protects our environment by upholding our constitutional environmental rights.”

Eminent Domain

Christman also said homeowners could be subject to eminent domain proceedings over the holidays. If FERC does issue a certificate of approval, it could be only a matter of weeks before these proceedings begin.

“Our other concern is a human concern, that is, landowners who are impacted by this pipeline are going to soon, probably during the Christmas season, be seeing process servers who alert them to the fact that eminent domain proceedings are underway,” Christman said.

“Save Carbon County will be holding frequent meetings with landowners to inform them of their rights at every step of the Eminent Domain process,” Christman said.

Those interested in voicing their opinion on preventing pre-construction tree cutting can write to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of Energy Projects, Washington, D.C. 201426, Re: CP15-558.