As the deadline approaches, more interveners are signing up with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to keep up with the proposed PennEast pipeline project.

As of Monday, there were approximately 1,022 interveners, including the Plains Township commissioners and the head of the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation. More local people and officials plan to file by Thursday, the deadline to comment or intervene.PennEast Pipeline Co. LLC filed its application with FERC on Sept. 24 to construct a $1 billion, 114-mile, 36-inch diameter pipeline that would start at the Transco interstate pipeline in Dallas Township and run through Luzerne, Carbon, Northampton, Bucks counties in Pennsylvania and Hunterdon and Mercer counties in New Jersey. The pipeline would supply natural gas from the Marcellus Shale to markets in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.FERC, which approves interstate pipeline projects, is accepting comments, which are noted for the record, and interventions. Interveners have legal standing in the case, meaning they can appeal decisions. They are also put on an email list to receive information as the case progresses.Numerous local government entities, including the city of Easton, the municipal authority of the city of Bethlehem, and officials in Lower Saucon, Moore and Williams townships in Northampton County and Towamensing Township in Carbon County, as well as the New Jersey counties of Mercer and Huntington and several of their municipalities, have signed on as interveners.Residents approached Dallas Township officials with a petition, and Supervisor Elizabeth Martin said the township plans to intervene as a municipality, and the supervisors will also do so individually.Dallas Township is becoming a hub for pipelines: The Transco interstate line has been in the township since the 1950s, and several natural gas pipelines connect to it, including the Springville and Wyoming gathering lines, that bring gas from wells in Susquehanna County to the Transco, as well as the planned Atlantic Sunrise expansion of the Transco and the UGI Energy line that brings gas into the utility's distribution system."When is it enough?" Martin said. "How many pipelines have to go through Dallas Township to turn it into a giant tic-tac-toe board?"The problem is, township officials get very little information, and residents who are "upset, furious, you name it," approach them with "cryptic letters from the gas companies," and the officials can't do anything for them, she said."You would think we would see more from the gas companies, but we don't," Martin said.Last week, the Luzerne County Flood Protection Authority intervened to keep track of the project and ensure pipeline construction would not affect the Wyoming Valley Levee System.On Monday, Robert E. Hughes, executive director of the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation signed up, for the same reason.The issue is how deep the pipeline will go under the Susquehanna River - the plan is to cross in Wyoming, in the area of Monocanock Island. If the pipeline goes deep enough, it could run into abandoned mines.PPL Electric Utilities also filed with FERC to intervene last week, stating, in part:"The proposed construction corridor for the PennEast pipeline crosses through PPL Electric's service territory in several counties located in northeastern Pennsylvania and is near, adjacent to or on property either owned by PPL Electric or property over which PPL Electric has existing right of way agreements. As such, PPL Electric has a direct interest in the outcome of this proceeding."For information about the case, visit

www.ferc.gov. The PennEast pipeline docket number is CP15-558.