Delaware Currents Presents
LNG: Wyalusing, PA to Gibbstown, NJ
Latest News:
Gibbstown LNG Project: Many Hurdles Remain
A planned project to transport liquified natural gas from a plant in Pennsylvania to a port in New Jersey still has to finish a Rubik’s Cube-like puzzle of regulatory, logistical and legal hurdles before becoming a reality. Pieces of the complex plan have so far gained approvals from at least 19 different local, state and…
Gibbstown LNG Project: Chronology
Aug. 21, 2017: The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration receives an application from Energy Transport Solutions, a subsidiary of New Fortress Energy, for a special permit to transport “methane, refrigerated liquid,” otherwise known as liquid natural gas, in specialized rail cars. Oct. 2, 2017: The DOT publishes a notice in the…
Fears for safety and climate surround LNG export terminal planned on the Delaware
Plans for a new half-billion-dollar liquefied natural gas export terminal on the Delaware River in South Jersey were greenlighted by the Delaware River Basin Commission on Wednesday
LNG Gibbstown, N.J. Project Inching Through Permitting Process
The controversial construction of a second dock at the Rapauno Port & Rail Terminal in Gibbstown, N.J. may be approved at the Delaware River Basin Commission’s (DRBC) fourth-quarter business meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020.
Liquified natural gas project in Gibbstown panned as unsafe
A contentious expansion of a dock in Gibbstown, N.J. that would encourage transportation of LNG from Pa, over road or rail to the site in NJ is awaiting a decision from the Delaware River Basin Commission.
An unusual public hearing for a piece of a big project on the Delaware
So, out of the blue, the Delaware River Basin Commission set a public hearing for the Gibbstown Logistics Center for a new second dock at its site, which is still under construction on the shores of the Delaware River. PHOTO BY MEG MCGUIRE
The LNG Project Explained
-
What is the project?
The energy giant New Fortress Energy and its subsidiaries want to transform natural gas at a plant in Wyalusing, Pa., northwest of Scranton, into super-cooled liquid natural gas and transport it by rail or highway to a port in Gibbstown, N.J., about 180 miles away. From the port, it would be shipped overseas.
-
Where will the gas come from?
It is expected to come to the Wyalusing site via a pipeline from areas of Pennsylvania where fracking is taking place to extract the gas.
-
What routes would LNG take by rail or highway?
The company has not publicly disclosed those details though environmental activists have identified two rail and two highway routes that could take trains and trucks through some combination of 18 counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
-
Have concerns been raised about the project?
Yes, many. Opponents and environmental activists have cited, among other things, public safety concerns about so-called "bomb trains" rolling through populated areas, including places like Philadelphia, the promotion of fracking, the effects of dredging needed to complete a deep-water port in the Delaware River, and a lack of transparency.
-
What does the company say about the safety concerns?
Its consultants have said that LNG has long been safely transported on highways by tankers and that rail transportation is safe: It estimated one fatality once every 200 years for high-speed train transport and one fatality once every 350 years for low-speed transport.
-
What is the status of the project?
It has cleared many numerous regulatory and permitting hurdles, including the approval of the Delaware River Basin Commission, but a good number remain. The company has indicated in regulatory filings that production of LNG at the Wyalusing plant is expected to start in the first quarter of 2022.
