Bethlehem Township Solicitor Jim Broughal has been informally directed to revise the township's zoning ordinance to protect residents from possible adverse consequences of a proposed 101-mile long high pressure natural gas pipeline. According to the township's lawyer, it is 36 inches in diameter, extends from Wilkes-Barre to Trenton and will traverse Bethlehem Township.

"Some areas are highly populated," he warned commissioners at their Nov. 3 meeting.

PennEast Pipeline, a consortium of local energy companies, has proposed this pipeline as a way to transport low cost natural gas from Marcellus Shale reserves to New Jersey. Its route in Northampton County will travel through Moore, Upper and Lower Nazareth, Bethlehem, Williams and Lower Saucon townships.

In Bethlehem Township, the pipeline is proposed through the commercial park on the west side of Route. 33.

Arguments in favor of the project are 2,000 jobs created and 4.7 million homes heated. But it is opposed by numerous environmental groups, including the Sierra Club.

"We're not seeking to stop it," Broughal said. "We're seeking to protect the public health, safety and welfare of the community."

He indicated that current zoning makes no provisions for a pipeline of this size and suggested the township take precautions against the "effects of something happening. I don't even know what they are at this point."