In a major victory for environmentalists and my fellow Delaware residents, a special master appointed by the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the tiny state’s jurisdiction over the Delaware River basin extends to the New Jersey shore, meaning likely defeat for a proposed multi-billion dollar liquefied natural gas terminal.
Special Master Ralph I. Lancaster, drawing on over 300 years of history dating back to pre-Colonial settler William Penn, said that “as the sovereign owner” of the Delaware River bottom, the state of Delaware can regulate and police developments extending from New Jersey’s shoreline.
New Jersey officials said they would appeal to the high court, which has final say, although the court usually relies on the decisions of its special masters and has ruled for Delaware in two previous cases involving the disputed border.
The case was brought after Delaware rejected a permit for a 2,000-foot-long pier extending out into the Delaware from the Jersey shore where tankers carrying super-chilled gas would make deliveries to a terminal proposed by energy giant BP.
The proposal raised safety fears because an estimated 22,000 residents living near the river’s main shipping channel would have been at risk of death in the event of a major accident. The terminal also was a violation of Delaware’s pioneering Coastal Zone Act, which bans new heavy industry along the river.
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