Drilling work has been halted on a controversial New Jersey Natural Gas pipeline project, after a mishap Friday leaked sludge into a nearby stream and damaged a house in Monmouth County that had to be evacuated, the gas company and an environmental group opposed to the project said.
The incident occurred Friday morning in Upper Freehold Township, where a crew was doing horizontal drilling for New Jersey Natural Gas’ Southern Reliability Link, an underground pipeline that would run for 30 miles through Monmouth, Ocean and Burlington counties, intended to provide an alternate delivery route for gas used by NJNG customers.
The $180 million project has been opposed by environmentalists, homeowners and some local governments, but has been approved by multiple agencies, including the Pinelands Commission, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the state Board of Public Utilities.
A lawsuit to overturn the approvals by the PBU and Pinelands Commission is now pending in the Appellate Division of State Superior Court after being filed jointly by the New Jersey Sierra Club, the Pinelands Preservation Alliance and the Burlington County townships of Bordentown and Chesterfield.
Jeff Tittel, the Sierra Club’s executive director, said Friday’s incident was indicative of the environmental and safety hazards posed by the pipeline project, which he called “a nightmare.” Tittel faulted the DEP and Gov. Phil Murphy for having allowed the project to move forward.
“What we have been warning against has now happened,” Tittel said. “They destroyed somebody’s house and polluted wetlands and a stream.”
A New Jersey Natural Gas spokesman said on Saturday that the drilling mud that leaked on Friday was a non-toxic mix of water and naturally occurring clay. The drilling was halted immediately, the DEP was notified and responded to the scene, and the incident was under investigation, he said.
“Those drilling operations remain halted, and will remain so while the investigation takes place,” said the spokesman, Kevin Roberts. Roberts said NJNG halted drilling voluntarily.
Spokespeople for the DEP did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.
Drilling mud, a mixture of water and clay, flowed from underground into a stream in Upper Freehold Township on Friday, after a drilling mishap during work on New Jersey Natural Gas' Southern Reliability Link pipeline project.New Jersey Sierra Club
Friday’s mishap involved what is known as an inadvertent return, or the unintended discharge of drilling mud to the surface through a natural crack or fissure in the bedrock being drilled.
In the horizontal drilling process used to lay the pipeline, drilling mud made from natural clay and water is used to lubricate the drill bit and otherwise facilitate the process.
In Friday’s case, an inadvertent return not only sent the sludgy drilling mud to the surface, where it flowed into a small stream, it also sent the mud into a fissure leading to the foundation of a house on Hutchinson Road, about 100 feet from the entry point of the horizontal drilling off Provinceline Road, damaging the home’s foundation and flooding its basement, Roberts said.
The homeowner, Barbara Fox-Cooper, could not be reached for comment. But Fox-Cooper, who Tittel said was an opponent of the project, issued a statement through the Sierra Club describing her reaction to what happened and its aftermath.
“I was almost too terrified to investigate after what had felt like an explosion in my house,” Fox-Cooper stated. “I discovered huge cracks in my foundation, my basement floor, and even my walls. As I watched in horror water and sludge came pouring in through the cracks, I ran to the construction site and begged them to stop.”
Roberts said the gas company offered to pay for Cooper’s accommodations while local officials assessed whether she could return to the house, but that she refused. It was unclear where she was staying.
Barring further delays or a reversal by the courts, the 18-month pipeline is expected to be completed by the end of 2021, Roberts said. Friday’s mishap occurred near the end of first phase of the project, an approximately 22-mile stretch through Monmouth and Ocean counties, which will be followed by a stretch of about 9 miles through Burlington. Much of the pipeline is laid by digging surface trenches, and Roberts said only some of the remaining nine miles would involve horizontal drilling, a technique employed in part to avoid disturbing wetlands.
He said the company had been prepared for Friday’s mishap.
“It’s unexpected when it happens, but it is common to drilling operations, so we do have mitigation plans in place to manage and contain these when they do occur,” said Roberts, who rejected an assertion by Tittel that the pipeline project represented “a toxic nightmare,” in a statement condemning Friday’s incident.
“This isn’t a broader public health issue as result of the release because of the nature of what’s used, again it is organic, non-toxic, naturally occurring,” Roberts said. “And as long as a mitigation plan is put into place that we follow, there is not a longer lasting impact. And, again, that’s why DEP is there, to sort of guide and monitor the cleanup effort and be aware of it. And again, we notified them immediately.”
Still, Tittel said it would be a very real threat to the plant life, fish and other creatures that had been living in the stream it flowed into, which would surely perish upon being coated with the gooey muck.
Whether the gas company was ready for Friday’s incident or not, Tittel said the characterization of inadvertent returns of drilling mud as “common,” was anything but reassuring with more pipe left to lay.
The basement of Barbara Fox Cooper's house in Upper Freehold Township was flooded with drilling mud after a mishap Friday during work on New Jersey Natural Gas' Southern Reliability Link pipeline project.Sierra Club
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com.