The United States Supreme Court has removed one of the legal hurdles to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
In a 7-2 decision, the justices overturned a lower court ruling that blocked a permit to allow the pipeline to cross under the Appalachian Trail. The ruling found that the Department of the Interior and National Park Service, which administer the trail, could assign a decision on the permit to the U. S. Forest Service.
In a statement, the pipeline’s main developer, Dominion Energy, noted that more than 50 other pipelines already cross the trail. The ACP, they say, would be hundreds of feet below the surface. "There will be no construction activity on or near the Trail itself, and the public will be able to continue enjoying the Trail as they always have," spokesperson Ann Nallo wrote.
Several other federal and state permits are still being challenged. A spokesperson for the Southern Environmental Law Centersays the project makes even less environmental and economic sense now than when it was first proposed in 2014. "It’s time for these developers to move on and reinvest the billions of dollars planned for this boondoggle into the renewable energy that Virginia and North Carolina customers want and deserve,” program director DJ Gerken wrote.
***Editor's Note: The Southern Environmental Law Center is a financial supporter of Radio IQ.
