Appeals court tosses permit for pipeline to cross Appalachian Trail
RICHMOND, Va. — A permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to cross two national forests, including parts of the Appalachian Trail, was thrown out Thursday by a federal appeals court that criticized regulators for approving the proposal.
A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond blasted the U.S. Forest Service for granting a special use permit to build the natural gas pipeline through parts of the George Washington and Monongahela National Forests, and granting a right of way across the Appalachian Trail.
“A thorough review of the record leads to the necessary conclusion that the Forest Service abdicated its responsibility to preserve national forest resources,” Judge Stephanie Thacker wrote for the panel in the unanimous ruling.
The court said the agency had “serious environmental concerns” about the project that were “suddenly, and mysteriously, assuaged in time to meet a private pipeline company's deadlines.”
Aaron Ruby, a spokesman for Dominion Energy, the project's lead developer, said the developers plan to appeal by seeking a hearing before the full 4th Circuit court.
The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of the Sierra Club, Virginia Wilderness Committee and other environmental groups.
Patrick Hunter, a staff attorney for the center, said the ruling is a “huge problem” for Dominion. “Their whole route is designed to cross the Appalachian Trail at this one location,” he said. “That means this pipeline — as they've designed it — is not a viable project at this point.”
The 605-mile natural gas pipeline would originate in West Virginia and run through parts of North Carolina and Virginia.