(Bloomberg) — A majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices seemed supportive of a crucial permit for Dominion Energy Inc.’s planned $8 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline, suggesting the Forest Service acted lawfully by clearing the natural-gas line to cross under the Appalachian Trail.
In an hour-long argument in Washington Monday, Chief Justice John Roberts said the position taken by environmental groups opposed to the pipeline would create an “impermeable barrier” along the 2,200-mile (3540-kilometer) trail, separating consumers on the eastern seaboard from inland energy resources.
A ruling in Dominion’s favor would eliminate the biggest obstacle to the 600-mile pipeline, which would carry as much as 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day from the Marcellus shale basin in West Virginia to customers in North Carolina and Virginia.
Without the permit, “the whole enterprise is done,” Justice Department lawyer Anthony Yang told the court Monday. President Donald Trump’s administration is backing Dominion, challenging a federal appeals court ruling that tossed out the permit.
Dominion, which is developing the pipeline with Duke Energy Corp., says it expects to begin construction by mid-year and complete it by the end of 2021. The company is still facing a pending administrative review of the impact on endangered species.
The case will also affect EQM Midstream Partners LP’s Mountain Valley gas pipeline from West Virginia to Virginia. Mountain Valley told the Supreme Court in December that the appeals court ruling forced a halt to its project, which is 90% complete at a cost of more than $4.3 billion.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Forest Service lacked authority to issue the Atlantic Coast permit because the Appalachian Trail is controlled by…
Source: FuelFix
