Despite active opposition from opponents and environmental groups, energy developer Williams Cos. has secured key approvals from New York and New Jersey regulators to build the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project — a 37-mile natural gas pipeline stretching from Pennsylvania through New Jersey to New York City — as well as a new compressor station in Somerset County, New Jersey, and New York’s national distribution companies.
The project was canceled by Williams in 2024 after years of permit denials by officials from key environmental agencies in both states. The New York Department of Environmental Conservation and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection announced on November 7 that they had approved applications for water quality certification for the project, as well as wetland permits, flood permits and waterfront development permits for work to proceed on the 400,000 Dekatherm per day project.
The states’ approval follows new project authorizations in August by the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the New York State Public Utilities Commission in September, the latter citing long-standing pipeline constraints in the region.
Williams is targeting construction to begin late next year and operation in the fourth quarter of 2027. A company spokesman did not respond to several inquiries from ENR regarding the status of the contractor’s hiring and selection.
“After a thorough evaluation of this application, [the New York agency] has determined that the project can meet applicable water quality standards under appropriate conditions,” the regulator said in a letter to Williams. The permit requires the pipeline to be installed at a minimum depth of about 4 feet below the seafloor to help minimize suspended sediment.
The agency said in its developer licensing notice that projects since 2020 have offered “new information” on how to “avoid and minimize” water quality impacts from pipes installed at four feet, projects in the past five years have provided “new information” related to water quality impacts and how to “avoid and minimize” them at that level.
The decision follows discussions earlier this spring between President Donald Trump and Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul related to expanding energy infrastructure in the state to increase the state’s reliability. Approval of the pipeline won support from a long list of business and construction groups, but not some state officials, as well as New York’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
In approving the project, the New York agency said it is imposing conditions, including oversight by independent third-party compliance monitors, and other steps to mitigate impacts, such as time-of-year construction windows to avoid sediment disturbance and a dredging management plan to limit suspended pollutants.
Williams Co. CEO Chad Zamarin said the company is “proud to advance NESE and do our part to provide New Yorkers with access to clean, reliable and affordable natural gas.”
The second longest pipeline is withdrawn
The company noted, however, that it has withdrawn its current water permit application for the previously proposed Constitution pipeline, estimated to cost more than $1 billion, to be built 125 miles from Pennsylvania to New York state, but the company now intends to resubmit it at a later, undisclosed date. The state had rejected its 2020 water quality certification, saying it didn’t align with the state’s 2019 climate law that mandates a transition to renewable energy.
But Hochul said in a statement: “While I have expressed an openness to natural gas, I have also been very clear that all proposed projects must be impartially reviewed by the required agencies to determine compliance with state and federal law.”
The Northeast Supply Improvement Project still faces legal challenges. A coalition of environmental groups, property owners and nonprofits filed a lawsuit Oct. 30 in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, DC, against FERC’s reauthorization. Environmental groups have also called for a rehearing of the New York Public Service Commission’s finding that the project is necessary.
According to Mark Izeman, senior environmental health attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, New York’s approval of the pipeline’s water permit is a “complete reversal” of two previous state decisions to reject the project over impacts to New York’s water resources.
“The pipeline proposal is exactly the same, and state and federal law are the same, so there is no legal or scientific basis for doing a 180° U-turn from the state’s previous denials,” he said in a statement, saying that if built, the project would cause serious damage to 23 miles of the New York-New Jersey Harbor floor, destroy marine habitats and dredge toxins.
