A controversy has erupted in New Jersey where a letter allegedly sent from Pilgrim Pipeline Holdings to property owners. The letter asks them to reconsider their declining surveying their land while simultaneously threatening them with legal action if they do not. The letter was disclosed by the Sierra Club in which they state a single property in Parsippany, NJ owner gave them a copy of the communique from Pilgrim Pipelines.

Pilgrim Pipelines is planning on building a 178 mile oil pipeline stretching from Albany, New York to Linden, New Jersey. The company has technicians surveying land that would be in its path in which Pilgrim states only 10 percent of the property owners they approach for permission decline their requests to enter their property. According to the Daily Record, the letter states (in part):

At this time, we are respectfully asking that you reconsider your initial decision and agree to allow Pilgrim’s consultants to enter your property to conduct an initial investigation,” the letter states. “Pilgrim is a pipeline company established under New Jersey law and because of that status it has the power to condemn private property.

Pilgrim very much prefers that the initial investigations be a cooperative process, it continues. “However, if you continue to decline to allow Pilgrim to enter your property, Pilgrim will have no choice but to ask a court to issue an order allowing it to enter the property for this purpose.

This entire affair is suspicious on its face for multiple reasons. A company Vice President condemned the letter stating it was a publicity stunt on the part of the Sierra Club. Even by the Sierra Club and the Eastern Environmental Law Center’s own admission the company has no power to condemn properties since it is not even a public utility. The group has gone on to point out that a hearing before the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities must take place before any condemnations can take place. As of the publishing of this essay, no such meeting has been held. It makes no sense that a company like Pilgrim Pipeline would issue such a letter that their legal department would review before being sent and would result in bad publicity and potential legal troubles.

It is a well known fact that the Sierra Club and other environmentalist groups oppose this and other pipelines because encourage the usage of fossil fuels which contributes to climate change (formerly known as global warming). The Sierra Club has also stated that only one resident has come forward with the letter. That means the whistleblower could be a member of the groups opposed to the project and the letter could have been photoshopped if not made up altogether. The only party relaying the information which the local press seems to be eating up is the text fed to them by environmentalists.

Consider that, according to New Jersey Spotlight, Pilgrim points out in making its case, the risk of oil barge spillage is approximately seven times greater. If approved, the company claims, the pipeline would remove 1,000 barges per year from the Hudson River. It’s obvious that the environmentalists prefer methods that not only mean more CO2 emissions but also make ecological disasters more likely. It makes their job of eliminating fossil fuels easier since they can make companies involved in the production and shipment of fossil fuels out to be polluters and climate criminals. This author of this blog has pointed out many times how Gang Green uses lies, manipulation and even intimidation to halt projects like pipelines. Based on a review of the news stories surrounding this incident, this is obviously one of those instances where environmentalists lie and manipulate the facts in order to halt the construction of this pipeline and other projects related to the usage of fossil fuels or enhancing our quality of life by any means necessary.