By The Star Staff
Environmental and civic organizations in Puerto Rico have appealed an order from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) allowing New Fortress Energy to operate a gas pipeline in the port of San Juan without environmental review.
The appeal was filed last week with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit by Earthjustice on behalf of El Puente de Williamsburg, Enlace Latino de Acción Climática, Sierra Club de Puerto Rico and other groups.
The groups accuse FERC of failing to comply with federal law by allowing NFEnergía, a subsidiary of New Fortress Energy, to install and operate a gas pipeline without assessing nearby communities’ environmental and safety impacts.
Some 20,000 people live within one mile of the pipeline and 168,000 within three miles, posing a severe explosion risk to these communities.
According to the groups, FERC was required to review the environmental and safety impact as required by the National Environmental Policy Act but allowed the project to move forward without considering these aspects.
NFEnergía began operating the liquefied natural gas terminal without FERC approval in May 2020, violating the Natural Gas Act, the groups said.
This situation describes one more time PR's lack of civil or political presence in front of the US. When you have a federal agency and its administrators' disregarding laws passed by the US Congress, we have a credibility problem. The crux of the matter is that Puerto Ricans might be the ones paying for irresponsible actions like this one; what rationale can explain violating your own laws unless they are being apply to the other.