Environmental group appeals New Jersey gas pipeline approval

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – An environmental group is appealing the approval of a hotly contested natural gas pipeline through the ecologically sensitive New Jersey Pinelands region by the state agency created to protect the area.

The Sierra Club filed an appeal Monday of a Feb. 24 decision by the New Jersey Pinelands Commission to approve a natural gas pipeline through the federally protected reserve.

The pipeline is designed to help a power plant in New Jersey switch from coal to gas.

New Jersey Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel says the commission failed to follow its own guidelines that require any project in the Pinelands to primarily benefit people living there. He says the gas plant is largely outside the Pinelands preserve.

The commission declined to comment Monday.