The local conservation community was taken by surprise five years ago when the private, for-profit pipeline company PennEast announced plans to build a gas pipeline from Luzerne County, through Carbon and Northampton counties across the Delaware River to New Jersey, cutting through thousands of acres of preserved open space and farmland.

After years of legal wrangling, the Third Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in October that PennEast cannot condemn state-preserved New Jersey land, a move which blocked the pipeline from reaching its destination.

Recently, Save Carbon County, a group made up of Carbon County landowners and environmentalists gathered at the Big Creek Grange to celebrate the court’s decision with a rally hosted by Linda Christman, president of the organization, and her husband Roy.

“This group has been together for five years,” said Christman. “We’re in a good position, but we’re not out of the woods yet.” The pipeline is not officially dead, although it’s chances of continuing are now severely impacted.

Sarina Berlow, Palmerton, proudly said “It’s difficult to keep a group like this together for such a long time,” referring to the five years that the group has been in existence.

Margaret Shinsec, a local property owner who grew up in the Big Creek area in a generations-old family-owned home, told the group “I can’t hang any numbers on what should or shouldn’t be done, but I do see determination and love of the land that you have. None of you want to share it with a pipeline, and neither do I.”

Shinsec was followed by Eve Miari, an advocacy coordinator from Philadelphia-based Clear Air Council, the oldest environmental organization in the Philadelphia area, that has worked closely with Save Carbon County to prevent the pipeline from being built. She spoke about the impacts pipelines are having in Pennsylvania — fouled drinking water wells, sinkholes, stormwater erosion, spilled drilling fluids, etc. — and urged Save Carbon County to continue to oppose proposed pipeline projects in the area.