For Immediate Release: 9/09/2025
PRESS RELEASE
Over 100 Rally on the Bayshore to Draw a Line in the Sand to
Stop Fossil Fuel Pipeline that will Pollute Land, Sea, and Air
Groups, Bi-Partisan Elected Leaders, and Residents Unite and
Call for Governor Murphy to Deny the Permits
Media Contact:
Blair Nelsen
732-923-9788
water@waterspirit.org
Port Monmouth, NJ – On Tuesday September 9th, over 100 people including environmental organizations, friends, and elected officials from both parties, united at the Bayshore Waterfront Park to rally against a massive methane gas project and to call on Governor Murphy to stop the project, affirming his legacy as a climate change leader. Williams Transco’s proposed natural gas pipeline, the Northeast Supply Enhancement project, simply referred to as the NESE project, would lock in fossil fuel use for up to 50 years, and for generations contaminate land, sea, and air by polluting communities and ecosystems.
Those attending the rally were invited to submit comments online for the permits and urged to attend the public meeting. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s only public hearing on NESE is on September 10th. This virtual meeting will be from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. To register or attend the public hearing, go to www.dep.nj.gov/nese. The deadline to submit written public comments for the project is on September 24th, which can be submitted at www.dep.nj.gov/nese.
In May 2025, Williams-Transco revived their permit applications for the NESE project to Governor Murphy’s NJ Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP). The construction of the project rests on the Governor’s approval. These permits have been previously denied the applications due to the significant environmental harm and lack of need., To date, 19 towns – including 100% of Bayshore communities – have passed a resolution opposing the construction of the NESE project, and others are considering passage.
NESE is an unnecessary, dirty, and environmentally destructive project designed to bring fracked natural gas from Pennsylvania to New York City. To do so, Williams and their subsidiary Transco have sought permits to build both a massive new compressor station in Franklin Township, and a 23.4-mile offshore pipeline through Raritan Bay. Reports indicate that the compressor station will emit millions of tons of harmful pollutants annually into the air we breathe. The nearly 24-mile pipeline, called the Raritan Loop, will rip Raritan Bay in half and continue all the way to the ocean, spewing nearly a million tons of toxin muck and drilling mud into the waterways in which we swim and fish.
This project has been attempted many times, with initial permit applications being filed on July 26, 2017. Subsequent applications were submitted on June 20, 2018, June 12, 2019, October 28, 2019, and January 21, 2020. All these permit applications were denied by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) for reasons including the environmental harm of a project of this scope.
Transco re-filed its permit applications in both New Jersey and New York to begin construction of the project by the end of 2025. In a supplemental request for these permits, Transco states “the Project scope has not changed and, thus, the 2025 Permit Applications are essentially identical to the applications reviewed by the Department in 2020.” These permits have not changed and neither have the impacts the project will have.
This zombie project has been resurrected by President Trump, and these groups are calling on Governor Murphy to deny the permits as he has before and uphold his promise of investing in green energy and moving away from fossil fuels.
“Don't mess with our bay. Let’s be clear, this project isn’t benefiting New Jersey. This project must be denied. Raritan Bay is essential to our community's health and our economy. No good will come from messy NESE, only bad. We are counting on Governor Murphy and his love for our beautiful waterways. This project must be stopped.” said Mayor Lori Hohenleitner, Atlantic Highlands.
“This project has zero energy benefit to it in Monmouth County and, for that matter, New Jersey. Its construction and use are damaging to the environment. It promotes the use of fossil fuels over less expensive renewables. By definition contributing to climate change. This is a catastrophic and costly problem for all municipalities on many levels. I am proud to report that the Borough of Red Bank has passed a resolution in opposition to this misguided plan,” said Councilman Ben Forest, Red Bank "Red Bank municipal council stands with other towns and environmental groups in opposition to the NESE pipeline. We publicly opposed it by passing a local resolution in 2019 and again in 2025. Red Bank's No to NESE is still a No."
"I ask that the residents of the towns that benefit from these majestic rivers, from Seabright, Oceanport, Monmouth Beach, Little Silver, Red Bank, Middletown, Long Branch... and Fairhaven, come aware of the potential toxic cocktail that might be unleashed on their doorstep, and take a proactive approach to have their voices heard,” said Councilman John Conklin, Rumson.
“As a State Senator, a scientist, and most importantly, a fellow resident of New Jersey’s 16th Legislative District, I know the dangers this project would bring to our communities. Compressor stations release toxic chemicals into the air and serve as a permanent industrial hazard that put our health directly at risk,” said Senator Andrew Zwicker. “The pipeline itself would threaten our waterways and coastal ecosystems, disturbing sensitive habitats in Raritan Bay and increasing the risk of leaks or accidents that could devastate our environment. These are not hypothetical dangers; they are well-documented realities of natural gas infrastructure.”
“The project has been denied over and over because it violates laws-- including those protecting marine life. For decades, thousands of folks, elected officials worked hard, and invested billions of dollars to improve the bay, and it’s come a long way. The health of the bay is getting better every day. “NESE will resuspended over a million tons of the old toxic muck re-contaminating the bay and waterways for years. Governor Murphy, this is your legacy– save the bay, stop the dirty old toxin-laden muck,” exclaimed Cindy Zipf executive director, Clean Ocean Action.
"Raritan Bay is an ecological and recreational treasure renowned for its world class striped bass, bluefish, and fluke fishing, as well as its commercial clam harvesting. NESE would slice through 23 miles of Bay habitat, resuspending sediments laden with copper, mercury, and other hazardous metals that would enter the local food chain,” said NY/NJ Baykeeper, Greg Remaud.
“Bringing back the NESE fossil fuel project from the dead after it has already been denied by the state is outrageous; Why unnecessarily put New Jersey communities, our clean air, water, Raritan Bay, and ocean at risk for more dirty and expensive energy? This new gas and pipeline expansion project will rip through an already overdeveloped route that puts public safety at risk of a leak or explosion, tear through wetlands, and the Raritan Bay. There is massive public opposition to this project, and 16 towns have already passed resolutions opposing the project,” said Anjuli Ramos-Busot, Director of the Sierra Club, NJ Chapter. “The NJDEP must schedule more hearings in every single impacted community, and Governor Murphy must reject NESE.”
"Governor Murphy and the Department of Environmental Protection need to apply the law to reject this dangerous and unnecessary fossil fuel pipeline," said New Jersey LCV Education Fund. "New Jersey and New York have already rejected this project three times for failure to meet water quality standards. This project would force thousands of New Jerseyans to choke on the fumes from compressor stations, ruin the marine ecosystems in our Bayshore, and harm our communities. The Murphy administration must stand up to greedy oil and gas CEOs by once again rejecting this zombie project."
"Our waters are sacred, sustaining life, community and our spirits. When we violate the sacred balance of our waterways for the profit of fossil fuel infrastructure that we do not need, we betray not only Earth, but generations yet to come. Governor Murphy has the moral and legal authority to protect our waters from harm. Governor Murphy: you hold the power. This is a moment to honor justice, protect our future and choose reverence over unnecessary risk,” said Blair Nelsen, Executive Director, Waterspirit.
“Trump and Williams are trying to saddle New Jersey with a dirty pipeline that would pollute our air, contaminate Raritan Bay, and lock families into decades of higher utility bills,” said Matt Smith, Food & Water Watch NJ Director. “Governor Murphy has the power — and the obligation — to deny the critical water permits and stop this pipeline once and for all. New Jersey families are counting on him to protect our communities, not do Trump’s dirty work.”
“Why are we once again risking our coastal tourism and recreation economy so that the fossil fuel industry can make a quick buck? The New Jersey coastal tourism and recreation economy produces 14 billion in GDP and supports 180K jobs EVERY year. On top of that--those tourism and recreation jobs are dependent on the Jersey Shore still existing--so continuing to increase fossil fuel pollution, which increases sea levels and erosion, is madness.” Matt Gove, Surfrider Foundation
“New Jersey already denied William Transco's dirty gas NESE pipeline 5 years ago because it was unnecessary and would irreparably harm our air and water," said Patty Cronheim, ReThink Energy NJ. "Governor Murphy needs to stay NJ strong and deny this project that would lock us into decades of fossil fuels that threaten our clean energy goals."
“The NESE Pipeline is planned to go right through the areas where the whales are feeding 8 months out of the year. All the toxins that took decades to sink to the bottom of the ocean floor will be stirred up once again contaminating the food chain. Furthermore, the whales are going to be directly harmed by the construction of the pipeline,” said Trisha DeVoe, Save Our Whales. “The NESE pipeline will have catastrophic and irreversible consequences on our marine mammals. We cannot allow them to kill our whales and destroy our ocean! We have worked too hard and come too far over the last 55 years to go backwards now.”
"Since Clean Water Action's founding in 1972 when we helped draft and pass the original Clean Water Act, our work has been rooted in protecting Waters of the US," explained Amy Goldsmith, New Jersey State Director, Clean Water Action. "There is no benefit to New Jersey to building a pipeline that spews pollution all along the way and perpetuates a fossil fuel industry for another generation. It is time for Governor Murphy to stand behind his policy of 100% clean energy by 2035 and just say no to NESE. Let no gas run through New Jersey veins to fuel New York and pollute our bays."
After the press conference, the unified voices marched to the water’s edge to draw a line in the sand, calling for Governor Murphy to deny the permits with chants and calls for action.
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For Photos and Video Click Here: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1x5dt3FXe3u724XiG_T3C1zLt9-z75dAk
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