The 500 mcf/d (14 mcm/d) Northern Access project has been blocked by the US New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the permit request has been denied after the DEC found the project failed to avoid impacts to wetlands, streams and wildlife.
The Northern Access project stretches over 97 miles (approximatively 156 km) and was expected to come onstream in 2018, transporting natural gas from Pennsylvania to New York and more broadly the US North East coast and Canada. The project is operated by National Fuel Gas Supply Corporation and Empire Pipeline, both subsidiaries of the National Fuel Gas Company.
This is not the first time the New York DEC blocks a pipeline project with water permits since it also happened in 2016 with the proposed 628 mcf/d (17.7 mcm/d) Constitution natural gas pipeline which was meant to transport shale gas from Pennsylvania to New England and New York.