Brian Nearing is reporting at Capitol Confidential the Houston-based developers of the Constitution natural gas pipeline have vowed to challenge the state Department of Environmental Conservation's rejection of the project. Constitution Pipeline Company LLC announced Mon., Apr. 25, “it remains steadfastly committed” to the project and blasted the DEC for a ruling based on “flagrant misstatements and inaccurate allegations," alleging the decision "appears to be driven more by New York State politics than by environmental science.” The company said the decision came as no surprise and ran contrary to its effort to work collaboratively with the state to address concerns. The company wrote, “Contrary to DEC statements, the company was not informed of any outstanding issues that it had not agreed to address as a condition of the permit. In fact, during the past nine months, weekly inquiries were made to the department to ensure no additional data was needed. Those inquiries were either ignored or responded to in the negative. It is obvious that the DEC deliberately chose to remain silent to bolster the political campaign of the state.” The company said the permit denial will delay approximately 2,400 jobs expected to be created during the pipeline construction, and generating $130 million in labor income. The decision could also cost local governments roughly $13 million in property tax revenue, as well, the company said. Read the full story at Capitol Confidential, a Times Union blog.