Maryland Loses Fight to Block Tiny Pipe Under Potomac River

We finally have some good news to share concerning Columbia Gas' project to build a tiny 3.37-mile, 8-inch pipeline under the Potomac River from Maryland to West Virginia. The project, called the Eastern Panhandle Expansion, has been blocked repeatedly by leftwing wackos in Maryland (see Fed Judge Upholds Maryland Decision to Block Pipe Under Potomac). Maryland used the same flawed legal argument that New Jersey used to block the PennEast Pipeline --- that eminent domain can’t be used against land owned or controlled by a state. PennEast won its case against NJ in the U.S. Supreme Court in 2021 (see PennEast Pipeline Squeaks Out 5-4 Supreme Court Victory Over NJ). The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (4th Circuit) ruled on Wednesday, using the PennEast case as precedent, that Maryland could not claim immunity from eminent domain.

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