Construction has stopped along the Atlantic Sunrise gas pipeline’s 37-mile route in Lancaster County amid a confusing stay order issued by a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. on Monday.
A temporary stay was issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in response to an emergency motion filed Oct. 30 by environmental groups opposing the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline.
The emergency motion asks that work cease until the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission does a comprehensive environmental review on the project’s short- and long-term impacts, as well as whether there is a public need for the pipeline.
The stay order was issued so the court could consider the motion. The court cautioned that the temporary stay “should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion.”
The order confused opponents and pipeline builder Williams Partners alike.
Oklahoma-based Williams filed a motion on Tuesday to have the court clarify whether it meant to stop construction.
“These current actions by opponents of American energy are, this morning, idling thousands of workers in Pennsylvania and could delay benefits of low-cost energy delivery to millions of American families, said Michael Dunn, Williams Partners’ chief operating officer.
“Atlantic Sunrise has undergone a nearly four-year review process and is operating and being constructed in compliance with all state and federal permits.”
But a coalition of groups, including the Sierra Club and Lancaster Against Pipelines, maintain that FERC, which approved the project, “overstated the pipeline’s economic benefits while discounting or ignoring its true costs.”
Other groups seeking the review are Appalachian Mountain Advocates, Lebanon Pipeline Awareness, Concerned Citizens of Lebanon County, Allegheny Defense Project, Clean Air Council, Heartwood and the Accokeep, Mattawoman, Piscataway Creeks Community Council.
Work on the 197-mile Atlantic Sunrise pipeline broke ground in Pennsylvania on Sept. 15. In Lancaster County, work got underway several weeks ago.
LancasterOnline – Ad Crable – 11.07.2017
Posted by: Nelson Bailey
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