TRENTON, N.J. >> New Jersey’s attorney general has rejected a proposal for use of state-controlled land for a $1.1 billion natural gas pipeline.
Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said in a letter Friday that PennEast was “patently misleading” when it referenced, in a separate letter, multiple attempts at negotiating over the use of the land.
Grewal says the state has had no communication on specific property rights.
The denial means that for now anyway, PennEast has not yet acquired rights for all the land in New Jersey it needs for the project.
PennEast spokeswoman Pat Kornick says the latest communication from the state is a “step in the right direction” and PennEast is confident a settlement will be reached.
In New Jersey’s denial the attorney general also cites a separate court challenge to the company’s federal certificate of necessity.