Delaware Currents Presents
LNG: Wyalusing, PA to Gibbstown, NJ
Latest News:
Future of Gibbstown-LNG project remains far from certain
A pending federal ruling about LNG by rail is one of numerous puzzle pieces still needed for the project.
A proposal to bring liquified natural gas via rail to a Delaware River port in Gibbstown, N.J., awaits a critical ruling by federal regulators – one of many significant hurdles that could ultimately mean the end of the line for a controversial project that has shown no appreciable momentum for years. The question before the…
Experimental device to take aim at plastics in the Delaware
Smart Trash Boom, which is specially designed to work in the heavily trafficked river, is expected to be tested in 2023
A new weapon is set to be tested next year in the battle against plastics pollution that can accommodate the heavily trafficked Delaware River, an experimental device known as Smart Trash Boom, spearheaded by a Utah-based company. Company officials say the device is well suited to waterways like the Delaware that are frequented by container…
Delaware River is largest source of plastics pollution in North America, report says
The study is one of several efforts to call attention to the issue
Amid continuing efforts to curb plastics in the Delaware River, a study finds that the river, among all the waterways in North America, is the leading source of macroplastics pollution in the Atlantic Ocean. The 2021 peer-reviewed study identified the top 1,000 river inputs worldwide that are conduits for 80 percent of the plastic pollution…
Microplastics prevalent in samples from the Delaware River
Fibers made up the majority of the tiny plastics collected, study finds
Microplastics, tiny plastic fragments about as big as a sesame seed that can be harmful to aquatic life, were found in more than a dozen sites sampled in the Delaware River Estuary, a newly released study found. The report, spearheaded by the Delaware River Basin Commission, sought to inventory the distribution of microplastics in the…
New tool comes to the Delaware watershed to analyze plastics pollution
A pilot program introduces a device called Seabin
In the fight against plastics in waterways comes a garbage collector that takes no lunch or coffee breaks – no breaks, at all, in fact. Part pool skimmer, part pump and part trash can, the collector is a device called Seabin that runs on electricity (or solar power) and can be plopped into waterways, particularly…
Wyalusing-Gibbstown LNG project suffers another setback
A contentious on-again, off-again plan to process liquified natural gas in Pennsylvania and transport it to a port on the Delaware River in New Jersey has suffered another setback. A company behind the project, Bradford County Real Estate Partners, reached a settlement on March 18 with environmental advocacy groups that challenged an air quality permit…
New Fortress doubles down on LNG-by-rail permit
A New Fortress Energy affiliate is doubling down on the importance of transporting liquefied natural gas by rail as part of its plan to export LNG from a plant in Wyalusing, Pa., to a New Jersey port on the Delaware River. Delaware Currents sought the permit renewal in a public records request. New information about…
Last-minute special permit renewal sought for Gibbstown project
The company behind a controversial plan to export liquified natural gas from Pennsylvania to a New Jersey port on the Delaware River filed a last-minute application on Tuesday to renew a special permit to transport LNG by rail. Energy Transport Solutions, a subsidiary of global energy giant New Fortress Energy, filed the renewal with the…
Is this the beginning of the end for Gibbstown LNG project?
Breaking news: Since the time of publication of this story, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration confirmed that it has, in fact, received a renewal application for the special permit to allow the transportation of LNG by rail for the Wyalusing-to-Gibbstown project. The application was received on Tuesday, the day the permit was set…
New obstacles loom large for Wyalusing-Gibbstown LNG project
A contentious plan to export liquified natural gas from a Delaware River port faces new political, economic and environmental headwinds that raise questions about its future. A new White House administration, a global market that was once white-hot that has considerably cooled in the past two years and pandemic-related workforce disruptions cast long shadows over…
Gibbstown LNG Dock 1 got Coast Guard’s “Letter of Recommendation”
Letter dated Dec. 18, 2019
By Chris Mele Hazardous materials regularly roll through Northeastern Pennsylvania communities by rail and road and it’s left to local first responders to be ready for when things go wrong. Haz-mat incidents vary in degrees of danger, records show. Commonly, crews are called to overturned trucks leaking diesel fuel. Infrequently, there are more serious incidents,…
The LNG Project Explained
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What is the project?
The energy giant New Fortress Energy and its subsidiaries want to transform natural gas at a plant in Wyalusing, Pa., northwest of Scranton, into super-cooled liquid natural gas and transport it by rail or highway to a port in Gibbstown, N.J., about 180 miles away. From the port, it would be shipped overseas.
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Where will the gas come from?
It is expected to come to the Wyalusing site via a pipeline from areas of Pennsylvania where fracking is taking place to extract the gas.
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What routes would LNG take by rail or highway?
The company has not publicly disclosed those details though environmental activists have identified two rail and two highway routes that could take trains and trucks through some combination of 18 counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
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Have concerns been raised about the project?
Yes, many. Opponents and environmental activists have cited, among other things, public safety concerns about so-called "bomb trains" rolling through populated areas, including places like Philadelphia, the promotion of fracking, the effects of dredging needed to complete a deep-water port in the Delaware River, and a lack of transparency.
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What does the company say about the safety concerns?
Its consultants have said that LNG has long been safely transported on highways by tankers and that rail transportation is safe: It estimated one fatality once every 200 years for high-speed train transport and one fatality once every 350 years for low-speed transport.
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What is the status of the project?
It has cleared many numerous regulatory and permitting hurdles, including the approval of the Delaware River Basin Commission, but a good number remain. The company has indicated in regulatory filings that production of LNG at the Wyalusing plant is expected to start in the first quarter of 2022.