Federal Judge Allows Northeast Upgrade to Proceed
A federal district judge recently rejected a request by the New Jersey Sand Hill Band of Lenape and Cherokee Indians for an injunction to stop Kinder Morgan Inc.’s construction of a portion of the Northeast Upgrade Project, a $400 million natural gas pipeline expansion project in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The tribe sought an injunction and temporary restraining order on the basis that the pipeline would destroy and desecrate sacred land in violation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and the 1778 Treaty of Fort Pitt between the Federal Government and Lenape tribe. Earlier this year, a Pennsylvania county judge granted an injunction to prevent protestors from interfering with the project.