Appeals Court Scraps 2 Permits for $6B Atlantic Coast Pipeline

SEATTLE (Oil Monster):A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Monday vacated two critical Atlantic Coast Pipeline permits, one from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the other from the National Park Service.

As part of the Fish and Wildlife Service permitting process, the agency authorized harm to a limited number of endangered or threatened species as a result of the natural gas pipeline project. The court, agreeing with plaintiffs Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club and the Virginia Wilderness Committee, called this move "arbitrary and capricious" for failing to provide specific and enforceable limits on the project's impact to five species. In its order pulling the National Park Service's right-of-way permit, the court decided that allowing pipeline crews to drill under the Blue Ridge Parkway would negatively affect the parkway's scenic overlooks because of the deforestation that would be required. The court agreed with plaintiffs the Sierra Club and the Virginia Wilderness Committee that the Park Service's issuance of the permit was not consistent with the service's conservation mission.

The 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline is valued at $6 billion, with the construction portion of the project expected to reach almost $3 billion, according to an April 2018 project fact sheet. The pipeline, a partnership between Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and Southern Company Gas, will run from Robeson, North Carolina, to just north of Lewis, West Virginia, creating an estimated 17,000 construction jobs. An attorney for the plaintiffs said the appeals court decision would force the pipeline back to square one of the planning stage, but Dominion Energy said the project should only experience delays while pipeline officials send permits back to their respective agencies for additional review, according to the Associated Press.

Courtesy: www.constructiondive.com