Streams Never Recover From Pipeline Disturbance

A Look At The Landscape The Penn East Pipeline Would Destroy

Alexauken Creek, West Amwell, NJ – healthy stream vegetation intact. Heavy moss & liverworts on stream boulders likely related to excessive nutrient pollution from Fulper’s farm, 1/2 mile upstream

Reading today’s superb Philadelphia Inquirer story on the growing opposition to the Penn East pipeline brought back powerful memories of my over 20 years living in Hopewell and West Amwell, towns targeted and in the pipeline corridor path of destruction, see:

• Opposition greets proposed Marcellus Shale-Trenton pipeline

The farm in the Inquirer story photo is on my former favorite bike loop, a lovely and historic landscape I’d photographed and something I’d written about, see:

• Ringoes – Rosemont Loop
• Sourland Mountains Loop

A couple of years ago I also photographed how some of the local streams that were suffering severe erosion problems already, from poor farming practices and utility right of way destruction, see:

• Bank Assets Eroding In NJ
• Get the Cows Out of the Stream

All of which reminded me that I also had some good photos on how destructive pipeline construction is, see:

• This Is What Pipeline Construction Looks Like (Part 1)
• This is What Pipeline Construction Looks Like (Part 2)

But those construction impacts are not short term –

So, I thought I’d put it all together and let the Penn East pipeline opponents have a look at what pipelines do to streams – there are irreversible and permanent impacts.

I am not claiming that these erosion problems are 100% caused by the pipeline crossings and ROW destruction.

However, many impacts are directly related and the pipeline ROW destruction of vegetation and stream crossing destruction only makes existing problems far worse.

Here are some photos of severe erosion problems caused by a pipeline – cheek it out, the streams never recover:

oil pipeline under Crosswicks Creek at Trenton/Hamilton marsh

pipeline corridor adjacent to tributary o Crosswicks Creek, Bordentown

oil pipeline crossing of tributary to Crosswicks Creek, Bordentown, NJ

pipeline stream crossing

stram bank erosion just downstream of pipeline crossing

severe stream bank and bed erosion