4th Circuit Again Blocks NPS Permit for Atlantic Coast Pipeline
Last week we told you that the forces of good had overcome the forces of evil--evil being the Sierra Club and the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) and their mission to stop the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) from getting built (see Victory! FERC Lifts Stop Work Order for Atlantic Coast Pipeline). The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission stop-work order for ACP in early August came after the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals pulled permits for approximately 100 miles of ACP, in response to a lawsuit filed by the Clubbers and SELC (see Federal Court Stops Works on Some (All?) of Atlantic Coast Pipe). The Fourth Circuit overturned permits granted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the U.S. National Park Service (NPS), granted to ACP to cross the Blue Ridge Parkway. FWS and NPS reworked and reissued their permits, which is why FERC lifted the stop-work order. Predictably, SELC, on behalf of the Clubbers and a few other far-out leftist groups, filed an appeal with the Fourth Circuit to overturn the newly-reworked permits. The Fourth Circuit has just issued an order temporarily blocking the NPS permit (not the FWS permit), while they consider the new lawsuit. The NPS permit stops 21 miles of pipeline work. The radicals are demanding a new stop-work order from FERC for the entire project (we despise these loathsome people). Dominion isn't budging--they will keep working everywhere else on the 600+ mile project. Hopefully FERC will not issue a new stop-work order for the entire project...
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