Welcome, except for the media. Reporters were not allowed to interview, record or photograph in the auditorium where federal officials were accepting public comment about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. (Photo by Lisa Sorg)
Just 15 minutes after the doors opened last night, the auditorium at Forest Hills Middle School — a public school — in Wilson was beginning to fill with people.
But the “public” listening session about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline wasn’t really public. And only select people could listen.
Hosted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the four-hour listening session was intended to take public comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement regarding the pipeline. But FERC officials prohibited the media (there were just two outlets –NCPW and the Wilson Times) from interviewing citizens, recording comments or taking photographs inside the auditorium — even with permission from the citizens themselves. Reporters were allowed to do their jobs outside of the auditorium but could not be present for the listening sessions themselves.
The controversial 150-mile natural gas pipeline will run through eight counties in North Carolina, beginning in Northampton County and continuing to Robeson County. It is part of a larger 600-mile pipeline that begins in West Virginia.
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