Today, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that it suspended a Trump administration rule that allowed liquified natural gas (LNG) to be transported by rail, a policy that would have put countless communities at risk of fires and explosions.  

The rail policy was a key component of a proposal by the company New Fortress to build a massive new liquified gas export terminal in Gibbstown, NJ, right along the Delaware River. In April, DOT denied the company a special permit to transport liquified gas by rail, and today’s suspension of the federal rule is another blow to the project.

The Trump administration regulation had been challenged in court by several environmental advocacy groups and a coalition of states, due to the massive risks to public health and safety that would be presented by a gas-by-rail scheme. 

Over the past two years, communities across the region have come together to oppose the New Fortress bomb trains scheme, which would pose the risk of catastrophic damage to dozens of communities in South Jersey and Pennsylvania.

In response to today’s news, Food & Water Watch New Jersey State Director Matt Smith issued the following response:  

“Suspending the outrageously dangerous Trump bomb train rule is a welcome relief to the communities that would be turned into sacrifice zones for a billionaire hedge fund tycoon to bet big on dirty gas exports. The victory goes to the powerful grassroots movement fighting back against the dangerous New Fortress export scheme and the enormous climate threat associated with the expansion of fracking and LNG.” 

“This victory can, and must, go deeper. The Biden administration should take action to eliminate the threat of fracked gas bomb trains entirely, and it must do more to stop new fossil fuel projects across the country. Likewise, the Murphy administration must do more to stop the dirty energy projects that are being proposed across the state. If our political leaders believe their own rhetoric about the climate crisis, then they must take appropriate action – and that begins by stopping new fossil fuel proposals immediately.”