THERE IS AMPLE cause for caution and care when it comes to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the proposed 600-mile conduit that would bring natural gas from Harrison County, W.Va., to Virginia and North Carolina.
The route floated by the partnership of energy companies advancing the plan would bring the line over picturesque mountains, through protected national forests and across pristine waterways. It would traverse public land and bisect private property, bringing with it a host of challenges.
For those reasons, it’s reasonable to be wary about the push for quick approval being made by Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and Southern Company Gas. Pipeline opponents have protested that these efforts are an attempt to sidestep the regulatory process.
According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the ACP partnership sent a letter to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Neil Chatterjee last week, asking that the FERC take up the project “at the earliest possible time.”
The companies hope to begin clearing trees for the project by November. The pipeline is expected to cost upward of $5 billion, and the companies estimate that construction will create about 17,000 temporary jobs.
In December, the FERC issued its preliminary environmental impact study of the project, concluding that the pipeline would have a negative short-term impact on affected land but that mitigation measures would reduce those effects enough to make it viable. The final draft of that study, released in July, upheld those conclusions.
The Virginia-Pilot – Editorial Board – 09.15.2017
Posted by Nelson Bailey
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