Transco Pipeline Clarifications

Doing some research on the expansion of the Transco natural gas pipeline that runs through Princeton, I learned the following:

The main pipeline running east-west along the Princeton ridge would not be affected. That's the 75 foot wide right of way that crosses Cherry Hill Road, and 206 just up from Ewing St, and Bunn Drive at the new Copperwood development below Hilltop Park.

The construction would instead be along a pipeline called the Skillman's Loop that branches off from the main line at the north end of Coventry Farm and Mountain Lakes Preserve, then heads north towards Montgomery. On this map (turned on its side, with north to the left), Princeton's main pipeline is blue, and the Skillman Loop is red. The project would heavily disturb a 6.3 mile section of this branch, 1.3 miles of which are within Princeton's boundaries. Installed in 1958, the pipeline appears as in the photo, with the forest canopy having largely grown over the 35 foot right of way.

But Transco is now proposing to clear an 85 foot wide swath along this right of way to lay an additional pipe parallel to the existing one. Tree clearing along the pipelines path through the Princeton Ridge would total 8 acres. An argument against this clearing goes like this: Cutting a broad swath will permanently divide the forest in two, fragmenting habitat, thereby providing an entry point for invasive plant and animal species and disrupting the nesting of birds that require deep forest. A widened right of way will also increase the vulnerability of remaining trees growing along the edge of the opening to wind damage, and leave a gap too broad for the canopy to close, even 100 years from now.

There's also concern about the impact of blasting on the delicate hydrology of the ridge forest, which could affect trees beyond the boundaries of the clearing.

Other posts on this subject can be found at this link.