Holmdel Continues Fight Against Natural Gas Regulator Project

HOLMDEL, NJ — The township will appeal a Board of Public Utilities decision to allow a NJ Natural Gas regulator station to be built on Holmdel Road.

Township Attorney Michael Collins reported at the Township Committee meeting Tuesday night that it agreed to allow Peter Dickson, the township's attorney in the matter, to file the notice to appeal the BPU decision to the Appellate Division of Superior Court.

The discussion about the appeal took place in executive session and was not discussed further in the public session because it is a legal matter.

But Collins put forth a resolution, unanimously approved by the committee, to award the firm of Potter-Dickson, Princeton, an amount "not to exceed $20,000" to pursue the legal action.

The deadline to appeal is Feb. 3.

"We are all very disappointed in the decision (of the BPU), but the town will continue to take this seriously," Mayor DJ Luccarelli has said previously.

The township has been involved in continuing litigation with the gas company about its plan to build a regulator station at 960 Holmdel Road in the southern part of the Township. The proposal got its latest go ahead recently from the state Board of Public Utilities.

Fox Hollow Vineyards, located at 939 Holmdel Road, is owned by the Casola family and the proposed regulator site is across from the vineyard and its other onsite facilities.

The committee earlier in June vowed to keep pushing back on the petition by the gas company to locate a regulator station here, despite a favorable ruling for the utility at that time.

An administrative law judge issued an initial ruling in May to allow the NJNG petition to continue. The judge’s decision had been sent to the Board of Public Utilities for review, and it ruled against the township.

A regulator station reduces pressure on the underground natural gas pipelines that already exist in the area, running underneath the ground in Holmdel Township and throughout Monmouth County, the utility says.

In 2018, when the project was first proposed, Kevin Roberts, a spokesman for NJ Natural Gas, told Patch "the regulator station itself is needed to support the reliability of NJNG's distribution system. It will replace a temporary station that is currently in operation, but that is not designed or suitable to support the system permanently."

The regulator station will consist primarily of underground piping, a 15-foot tall ventilated heating unit, a control box and two regulator runs that will be located above ground.

But environmental advocates say Holmdel's preserved farmland, homes, the nearby Village Elementary School and the Swimming River Watershed are not the place for a regulator station.

"This is an industrial natural gas regulator station that will pollute the land, pollute our waters and will be a major nuisance to the community," Jeff Tittel, then-director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said in the 2018 interview with Patch.

"The proposal will bring in air pollution right next to preserved farmland and near the Swimming River Reservoir."

However, NJ Natural Gas argues the proposed regulator station will not have any adverse impact on air quality or water quality, based on existing standards already set by the state Department of Environmental Protection and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.