Fed Court Grants Green, OH Request to Stop NEXUS Pipe Construction
Who says you can't buy a court decision--at least a temporary one? Back in May MDN told you about the antis running the City of Green, Ohio hellbent on stopping the NEXUS Pipeline, all of it (see Green, OH Paying Lawyers $100K to Fund Stop NEXUS Crusade). Green City Council voted to use $100,000 of taxpayer money to hire a Cleveland law firm to file a lawsuit “aimed at stopping the pipeline from being built or stopping the project altogether.” NEXUS, a $2 billion, 255-mile interstate pipeline that will run from Ohio through Michigan and eventually to the Dawn Hub in Ontario, Canada, was the first major pipeline project to get approved after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) once again had a quorum (see New FERC Quorum Votes Final Approval for NEXUS Pipeline). Green's high-priced lawyers filed their lawsuit in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, requesting an emergency stay blocking construction. Late last week a three-judge panel voted 2-1 in favor of Green's request for an emergency stay, which temporarily blocks further construction of an 8-mile segment of the NEXUS Pipeline in the vicinity of Green (but not anywhere else). The judges believe Green's lawsuit is likely to prevail in court--hence stop any construction for now around Green. The big problem, from our limited legal understanding, is that the underlying lawsuit filed by Green challenges the Ohio EPA's decision to grant water crossing permits for the ENTIRE 257-mile pipeline through Ohio. If Green prevails in that case, construction on the entire pipeline (as it passes through Ohio) is stopped--not just an 8-mile segment around the pipeline-phobic Green...
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