The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a key New Jersey water permit for Williams' Northeast Supply Enhancement natural gas pipeline project, which spans Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. In a ruling on Tuesday, the court granted petitions by environmental groups to vacate New Jersey's Water Quality Certification and sent the case back to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The groups had sued the NJDEP last November for unjustifiably approving the certification, which the agency had rejected in 2019 due to the project's failure to demonstrate compliance with state water quality standards. The NESE pipeline is a $1B project that would transfer natural gas from Pennsylvania through New Jersey to New York, and Williams' Transco unit broke ground on it in April. Williams also has proposed another long-delayed project in the northeast, the Constitution pipeline from Pennsylvania to New York and New England, which is not yet under construction.
Williams Companies IncCourt vacates key water permit for NESE pipeline, delaying project.
