“If Mr. Earlen can be replaced, I’ll be the first to vote to replace him,” Freeholder Director Tom Pullion said Wednesday during a board meeting packed with opponents of a controversial natural gas pipeline planned to run through northern Burlington County and a portion of the protected Pinelands region.
David Levinsky reports for the Burlington County Times
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NT HOLLY — The leader of the new Democratic-controlled Burlington County Board of Freeholders says the board is investigating its legal options for removing Sean Earlen (pictured at left) as the county’s representative on the New Jersey Pinelands Commission before his term expires.
NT HOLLY — The leader of the new Democratic-controlled Burlington County Board of Freeholders says the board is investigating its legal options for removing Sean Earlen (pictured at left) as the county’s representative on the New Jersey Pinelands Commission before his term expires.
“If Mr. Earlen can be replaced, I’ll be the first to vote t
The commission is responsible for overseeing development and land use in the Pinelands, an ecologically unique area of forests, fields, wetlands and bogs located in the heart of the nation’s most densely populated state. The agency’s 15 governing commissioners aren’t paid but are considered the front line protectors of the region and its rare plants and animals and pristine water supplies.
Seven of the commissioners are gubernatorial appointments that must also be approved by the state Senate, and seven are appointed by the governing bodies of each of the counties that encompass the Pinelands. The 15th member is a federal representative appointed by the U.S. secretary of the interior.
Earlen, who recently became chairman of the Burlington County Republican Committee, has served as the county’s appointed representative on the Pinelands Commission since August 2011 and has been the panel’s chairman since January 2017. He has come under fire from environmental groups and some residents since he voted in favor of approving two natural gas pipelines through the Pines, including the proposed by New Jersey Natural Gas slated to run through Burlington County.
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The 30-mile line, known as the Southern Reliability Link, is planned to begin at a recently-built compressor station on the Chesterfield-Bordentown Township border and run west along County Routes 528 and 664 through Chesterfield, North Hanover, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and several towns in Monmouth and Ocean counties.
New Jersey Natural Gas has argued the pipeline is critical for enhancing the reliability of gas delivery to over a million customers, mostly in Ocean and Monmouth counties, because it will provide a second transmission feed in its territory. But opponents have waged an unrelenting battle against the project, arguing that the close proximity of the compressor station and pipeline route to residences and businesses in Bordentown Township, Chesterfield and North Hanover will pose a significant safety and pollution risk.
Even before Earlen cast his vote supporting the line, opponents were lobbying the freeholder board to replace him with a more strict conservationist. However, the freeholders voted in December 2017 to re-appoint him to a new term.
At the time, the freeholder board was under complete Republican control and the freeholders argued he deserved re-appointment. Officials cited the commission’s move to designate appropriate roads for motor vehicle use in Wharton State Forest, as well as decisions to give the long-awaited approval for widening Route 530 in Pemberton Township, Pemberton Borough and Southampton and improvements in how the panel reviews applications related to homeowners and businesses in the county.
The GOP freeholders also said that while the board opposed the proposed route of the Southern Reliability Link pipeline near homes and businesses in Chesterfield and North Hanover, that the project itself was worthwhile because it would improve resilience of gas supply to New Jersey Natural Gas’ service territory, which includes a portion of the joint base.
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Since then Republican control of county government has slipped away. Pullion and fellow Democrat Balvir Singh joined the board in January 2018 after winning seats in the November 2017 election. They were joined by two more Democrats this month, which flipped the board’s majority to Democrats for the first time in over 40 years.
With Democrats now in control of the freeholders, opponents of the pipeline turned out in large numbers to Wednesday’s board meeting to urge the new majority to replace Earlen on the commission. They also called on the freeholders to rescind a resolution approved by the Republican majority in December to allow County Routes 528 and 664 to close during pipeline construction.
Both issues are tricky for the board though, as Earlen’s term does not expire until August 2020 and New Jersey Natural Gas is involved in ongoing litigation with the county over its road construction policy.
