Williams' NESE Pipeline Permit Reversed by US Court

A US court has reversed a key permit for Williams' Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) natural gas pipeline project in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals granted petitions from environmental groups to vacate the Water Quality Certification issued by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP).

The court remanded the case back to NJDEP after a coalition of environmental groups filed a lawsuit last November, arguing that the certification was unjustifiably approved. The groups claimed that the underwater segment of the pipeline would require dredging, stirring up sediment containing toxic contaminants like mercury and PCBs.

Williams' $1 billion project aims to expand the existing Transco gas pipe and move 0.4 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of gas from Pennsylvania to New York. The company had previously canceled NESE in 2024 after years of fighting for permits, but revived it with the support of the Trump administration.

Environmental groups opposing the project say that this decision should have been made a long time ago, and that 'when the water quality certificate was denied in 2019, that should have been the end of it.'