Plans for a 30-inch natural gas pipeline that would run underneath the Hudson from New Jersey into Manhattan's Meatpacking District have been approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. "We determined that construction and operation of the NJ-NY Project would result in limited adverse environmental impacts," FERC's report states. We're guessing they wrote that sentence after being denied entry to Le Bain.
The mayors of Jersey City and Hoboken oppose the plan, saying the construction would deter business, not to mention that the company installing the pipeline, Spectra, had 17 different safety inadequacies in its initial plan. But Spectra tells the Times that the plan has been modified since those errors were found. And don't worry, it probably won't explode near the most populous city in the United States like the pipeline that killed four people and injured 50 in San Bruno, California did.
The 15.2 miles of pipeline will cost $1.2 billion and pump 800 million cubic feet of gas per day. It's the first major natural gas pipeline to reach New York City in 40 years. You can see a full map of where the pipeline will be laid (in some cases 200 feet below ground) here.
