Risky and Unnecessary Natural Gas Pipelines Threaten Our Region
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Al Gore comes to Memphis to oppose ‘reckless, racist’ Byhalia pipeline
Former Vice President Al Gore returned to Tennessee Sunday to voice his opposition to the Byhalia pipeline at a rally organized by Memphis Community Against the Pipeline. The high-pressure crude oil pipeline proposed by Valero and Plains All American...
What you need to know about how the Byhalia Pipeline impacts Memphis
Byhalia Pipeline: What is going on? Two companies, Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. and Valero Energy Corporation, are trying to build a pipeline through southwest Memphis neighborhoods to transport crude oil for export.
Valero crude oil leak heightens concerns over proposed pipeline
Reports of an 800-gallon crude oil leak last year at a storage site near the terminus of a proposed high-pressure oil pipeline by Valero Energy Corp’s have heightened concerns about the risks the project poses to the Memphis Sand Aquifer, which suppl...
Tennessee Congressman urges White House to rescind Memphis pipeline permit
Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) wrote to President Biden urging that he direct the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to rescind its recently issued nationwide permit to Valero Energy and All Plains American for its proposed Byhalia Connection Pipeline. Th...
Pipeline Proposed by Valero and Plains Puts Black Communities, Memphis’ Drinking Water at Risk of Contamination
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), Protect Our Aquifer, Tennessee Chapter of the Sierra Club, and Memphis Community Against the Pipeline are urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deny a federal permit for a pipeline...
Thank you for fighting the Atlantic Coast Pipeline with us
When, on July 5th, Duke Energy and Dominion Energy abruptly cancelled the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, it didn't come out of nowhere. For years, SELC and a broad coalition proved again and again that this project was unneeded and unwanted. Finally, those...
Transparency Needed as Southern Utilities Announce Secret Talks to Create Energy Market
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — Today some of the region’s largest utilities—including Duke Energy, Southern Company, TVA, and Dominion Energy Inc.’s electric utility in South Carolina—revealed they have for months been engaged in talks to set up a new system...
SELC’s pipeline team reflects on the path to victory
“We’re a billion-dollar company and we’re going to put the pipeline wherever we want to put it.” That’s what a Dominion Energy agent told a father in Churchville, Virginia, whose family home was in the path of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. B...
Abandoned ACP is the beginning of our clean energy future
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — After winning legal battles in the courts, federal agencies, and Congress, the Southern Environmental Law Center and its clients that include fifteen Virginia, North Carolina, and national conservation groups can now say the...
Dominion and Duke Energy abandon Atlantic Coast Pipeline
Updated July 6: When Dominion and Duke Energy announced the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in September 2014, the public knew right from the beginning that it was wrong. National forests, the Appalachian Trail, steep landslide-prone mountains, and vulnerab...
Dominion and Duke Energy Abandon Atlantic Coast Pipeline
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA— Today, Dominion Energy and Duke Energy announced that they are canceling the $8 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Southern Environmental Law Center Senior Attorney Greg Buppert issued the following statement: “This is a victory...
Atlantic Coast Pipeline confronts its expiration date
Washington, DC— Today the Southern Environmental Law Center, joined by partners at Appalachian Mountain Advocates, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and the law firm Johns & Counsel, opposed Dominion Energy and Duke Energy’s request for two additional...
No more “free pass” for pipeline developers
Today the full D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ended the unjust practice of tolling orders by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that allowed gas pipelines to move ahead with construction while preventing challengers from contesting the projects...
Regional impact: Critical permit for pipelines vacated
A decision reached in federal court late last month could have significant implications for the fate of the $8 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied a request from the Army Corps of Engineers to stay...
Atlantic Coast Pipeline problems persist despite Supreme Court decision
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision that limited the U.S. Forest Service’s authority to issue a permit to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The original ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals stated the Forest Service la...
Atlantic Coast Pipeline problems persist despite Supreme Court decision
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a lower court decision that limited the U.S. Forest Service’s authority to issue a permit to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). The original ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals...
Dominion plan undermines Virginia’s new Clean Economy Act
Dominion Energy’s recently released Integrated Resource Plan lays out a plan that remains fossil fuel-intensive and will produce 10 million tons of carbon pollution in 2045, at a time when new Virginia law requires the utility to be at zero emissions...
Dominion plan undermines Virginia’s new Clean Economy Act
Charlottesville, VA—Dominion Energy’s recently released Integrated Resource Plan, lays out a plan that remains fossil fuel-intensive and will produce 10 million tons of carbon pollution in 2045, at a time when new Virginia law requires the utility...
D.C. Circuit hears challenge to unjust FERC practice
Monday the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia heard a challenge to a systematic practice by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC, that prevents landowners and communities from challenging the agency’s decisions in co...
D.C. Circuit Hears Challenge to Unjust FERC Practice Used to Advance Construction of Unnecessary Atlantic Coast Pipeline
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia heard a challenge to a systematic practice by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that prevents landowners and communities from challenging FERC’s decisions in...
New Law Sets Virginia on a Clean Energy Path
On Saturday Governor Ralph Northam signed the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which will replace all carbon-emitting power plants in Virginia with zero-carbon generation by 2050, with milestones to ensure progress along the way. This broad new...
From the steps of the Supreme Court
Months of preparation boiled down to 30 minutes Monday as SELC and its co-counsel made their case before the Supreme Court of the United States. At issue is a permit from the U.S. Forest Service for a major pipeline carrying fracked gas to cross unde...
Atlantic Coast Pipeline permit before the Supreme Court
On Monday, February 24, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear arguments in United States Forest Service v. Cowpasture River Preservation Association. The narrow legal question at the heart of this case is whether the Forest Service has the...
Union Hill: An ignored history of Virginia, and America
In a recent New York Times opinion piece, Executive Director Jeff Gleason reminded Virginians that the nation’s eyes are on us once again as we get a chance to right the wrongs in Union Hill, where Dominion Energy is pursuing construction of a compre...
Court delivers win for Union Hill citizens over Atlantic Coast Pipeline
Today the Fourth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals handed down a victory in SELC’s case against the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The court’s ruling calls into question whether pipeline developers, Dominion...
Union Hill Citizens Overpower Unfair Atlantic Coast Pipeline
RICHMOND, VA — Today, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals handed Friends of Buckingham, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation a victory in their case against the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board...
Union Hill has day in court
Today, SELC was before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the state’s permit for a polluting compressor station sited in the historic African-American community of Union Hill, Virginia. The compressor station is part of the proposed Atl...
U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear case on unnecessary and destructive Atlantic Coast Pipeline
Today, the nation’s highest court agreed to review a lower court decision, which revoked a U.S. Forest Service permit for the unnecessary and destructive Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The original ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals stated the...
Supreme Court agrees to hear case on risky Atlantic Coast Pipeline
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review a lower court decision that revoked a U.S. Forest Service permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). The ruling by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals stated the Forest Service lacked...
The case against the Atlantic Coast Pipeline
It’s harmful, obsolete, costly, and its future is uncertain. SELC and our partners have maintained for years that the risky and unnecessary Atlantic Coast Pipeline should not be built. Now you can find the supporting research and legal documentation...
Federal court strikes down Atlantic Coast Pipeline permit
We’ve long argued against the necessity of the poorly-routed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which slices through environmentally sensitive and sacred areas on its way from West Virginia, through Virginia, and into North Carolina. Today’s Fourth Circuit Cou...
Federal Court Strikes Down ACP Permit
RICHMOND, VA — Today, the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of clients Defenders of Wildlife, Sierra Club and the Virginia Wilderness Committee won a case against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals...
Virginia Senators, Reps urged to protect Appalachian Trail
Yesterday more than 50 organizations from across the state called on Virginia Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Virginia’s members of the House of Representatives to push back on the political pressure Dominion Energy is exerting in an effort to...
Virginia Senators Urged to Protect Appalachian Trail
WASHINGTON, DC — Today more than 50 organizations from across the state called on Virginia Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Virginia’s members of the House of Representatives to push back on Dominion Energy’s political pressure seeking...
SELC argues problematic pipeline permit again in federal court
Today SELC was before a federal court in Richmond for oral arguments in the case addressing the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s impacts to endangered species. These species, which are facing unprecedented threats, require intact habitats and occupy some of...
Court rejects pipeline developers’ request to overturn AT decision
The Fourth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals declined to reconsider its December ruling that the U.S. Forest Service lacked authority to authorize the Atlantic Coast Pipeline from crossing the Appalachian Trail. The request came from pipeline deve...
Court Rejects ACP Request to Overturn Appalachian Trail Decision
RICHMOND VA— Today, the Fourth Circuit declined to reconsider its December ruling that the U.S. Forest Service lacked authority to authorize the Atlantic Coast Pipeline from crossing the Appalachian Trail. The Court also found that Atlantic and the...
Environmental injustice at heart of Union Hill gathering
Rev. Dr. William Barber, the president of Repairers of the Breach and co-chair of the national Poor People’s Campaign, and former Vice President Al Gore visited Buckingham, Virginia this week to shine a light on the community surrounding a planned pi...
Union Hill community group challenges Virginia Air Board decision
On Friday, SELC filed a challenge to the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board’s decision to approve Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline Buckingham County compressor station. The filing was made on behalf of Friends of Buckingham. “The Air Board has r...
Union Hill Community Challenges Virginia Air Board Decision
Richmond, VA — Today the Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of its client the Friends of Buckingham, challenged the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board’s decision to approve Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline Buckingham County compressor...
Park Service Abandons Defense of Latest Pipeline Permit
Richmond, VA — The National Park Service has voluntarily abandoned its defense of the agency’s latest permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to cross the Blue Ridge Parkway. NPS issued the revised permit after the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, in...
Federal Court Throws Out Approval of ACP Through National Forests
RICHMOND, VA— Today the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the US Forest Service’s federal approval for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to cross two national forests and the Appalachian Trail. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is a 600 mile-long $7...
Federal court throws out pipeline’s Forest Service approval
Today the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a federal approval for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to cross two national forests and part of the Appalachian Trail.
Federal Court Throws Out Forest Service Permit, Rules Agency Can’t Authorize Crossing AT
RICHMOND, VA— Today the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a federal approval for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to cross two national forests, including parts of the Appalachian Trail. "The George Washington National Forest, Monongahela...
Virginia officials reject Dominion IRP and ACP construction halted
Today the Virginia State Corporation Commission issued an order rejecting Dominion Energy’s Integrated Resource Plan, which lays out the utility’s plans for meeting energy needs for years to come in Virginia. This is the first time the Virginia SCC h...
Virginia SCC Rejects Dominion IRP and ACP Construction is Halted
Richmond, VA— Today the Virginia State Corporation Commission issued an order rejecting Dominion Energy’s Integrated Resource Plan, which lays out the utility’s plans for meeting energy needs for years to come in Virginia. This is the first time the...
SELC op-ed: Dominion desperate to get the pipeline built before the facts catch up with it
The latest report from Dominion estimates building the Atlantic Coast Pipeline will cost $7 billion. Dominion customers will bear the burden of those costs on their monthly bills for years to come. Meanwhile, as an air permit for a compressor statio...
ACP Construction Halted in National Forest
Richmond, VA— The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has granted a stay of the National Forest Service decisions allowing Atlantic Coast Pipeline construction. The stay puts an immediate stop to any construction in the National Forest until an appeal...
SELC challenges new, rushed permits for Atlantic Coast Pipeline
A project of the magnitude of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline can’t move forward with slapdash permits, recycled from project to project. So SELC was back before the courts today, this time filing legal challenges to newly issued permits from the Nationa...
SELC Challenges New Rushed Permits for Atlantic Coast Pipeline
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), on behalf of Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, and Virginia Wilderness Committee, filed legal challenges today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to new permits...
Agencies Rush Out New Permits for Atlantic Coast Pipeline
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – The National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have issued new permits for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, according to Atlantic’s filings with FERC today. The filings come just weeks after the Fourth Circuit...
Community voices their opposition as Virginia officials consider pipeline infrastructure
Last night members of the Virginia Air Board and staff from the Department of Environmental Quality heard person after person voice their opposition to a proposed compressor station in Buckingham County. The compressor station is an industrial facili...
Virginia community rallies against pipeline’s compressor station
Many residents of Union Hill, a tiny community in Buckingham County founded by formerly enslaved people following the end of the Civil War, are fighting plans to put a compressor station for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline nearby. "We have one church wi...
Virginia Water Board looks the other way on pipeline problems
The Virginia State Water Control Board gave up an important opportunity Tuesday when it chose not to take steps to amend or revoke water permits for the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines. The 4-3 decision against the motion to begin the am...
VA Water Board Squanders Opportunity to Protect Virginians
RICHMOND, VA – The Southern Environmental Law Center released the following statement after the Virginia State Water Control Board’s decision not to take steps to amend or revoke the water certifications for the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley...
FERC faces court challenge on Atlantic Coast Pipeline
Today, SELC and Appalachian Mountain Advocates, on behalf of 13 conservation groups, filed suit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for its approval of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) and its refusal to look behind Dominion’s inflated...
FERC Faces Fourth Circuit Court Challenge on ACP
WASHINGTON, DC— Today, the Southern Environmental Law Center and Appalachian Mountain Advocates on behalf of a group of 13 conservation organizations filed suit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for its approval of the Atlantic Coast...
Pipeline construction stopped
The federal government has ordered Dominion and Duke Energy to stop all construction on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The decision comes on the heels of another stop-work order from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on the Mountain Valley Pipel...
FERC Orders Construction to Stop on Entire Route of Atlantic Coast Pipeline
WASHINGTON, DC— Today the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered all construction halted on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline following a ruling from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals throwing out developers’ National Park Service permit. “FERC...
Federal court throws out another key pipeline permit
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals today threw out the National Park Service’s permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in a case argued by SELC on behalf of the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Virginia Wilderness Committee. The court also...
State Agency Quietly Weakened Pipeline Water Restrictions
Charlottesville, VA—The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, in the closing days of the McAuliffe administration, rolled back restrictions on construction in streams to help Dominion and Atlantic Coast Pipeline developers move the...
Virginia officials quietly weakened pipeline standards protecting water
Amid all the hearings, protests, meetings, and headlines bringing attention to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project, one aspect of the plans was kept under wraps. Until recently, Virginia officials had not made public their concession to roll back res...
Pipeline explosion reignites concerns
Dominion Energy is putting itself in danger of liability as it attempts to barrel ahead with construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline despite a recent ruling that raises the question of whether the developer holds a valid construction permit. SELC...
Dominion exaggerates pipeline job numbers
As Dominion Energy runs TV ads touting jobs created by building the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, closer examination shows those numbers are a gross exaggeration. The Daily Progress recently published a letter from SELC Senior Attorney Greg Buppert outlin...
FERC Should Stand by its Order
Charlottesville, VA—Today, Atlantic Coast Pipeline developers submitted a response to a Federal Regulatory Energy Commission request for more information after the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a permit issued by the Fish and...
FERC weighs whether Atlantic Coast Pipeline construction can continue
In the latest development around the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a letter from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has given the pipeline developers five days to provide more information. This move is in response to a federal appeals court ruling,...
SELC Responds to FERC Letter Sent to Pipeline Developers
The Southern Environmental Law Center has issued the following statement in response to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s most recent letter issued to Atlantic Coast Pipeline Developers: "According to the Federal Regulatory Commission's...
Atlantic Coast Pipeline Developers Constructing with Invalid Permit
RICHMOND, VA – The US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision to invalidate the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s review of Dominion and Duke Energy’s fracked-gas pipeline. Without a valid permit Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP)...
Court finds key permit needed for pipeline construction invalid
The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued an order in a case argued by SELC on behalf of Defenders of Wildlife, Virginia Wilderness Committee, and Sierra Club. The three-judge panel found the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s limit...
State wades back into pipeline permits in Virginia
In a bold move, the Virginia State Water Control Board has voted to open a public comment period to review the adequacy of controversial federal water permits issued to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) and Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) projects. Bo...
FERC Denies Dominion Request to Keep Cutting Trees
Charlottesville, VA—Today, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission sent a strong message and denied Dominion and Atlantic Coast Pipeline developers’ request to extend their tree-cutting window to May 15, 2018. “FERC made the right decision today...
SCC Accepts Evidence that Pipeline Will Cost Virginians $2 Billion
Charlottesville, VA— The Virginia State Corporation Commission today accepted evidence that Dominion’s plans for building the Atlantic Coast Pipeline will indeed be passed on to customers in Virginia. The expert testimony describing the $2 Billion...
SELC, Appalachian Mountain Advocates ask court to halt pipeline construction
Today SELC and Appalachian Mountain Advocates, on behalf of their clients, asked the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond to halt construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline until the court decides whether the Federal Energy Regulatory Commiss...
FERC Must Halt ACP Construction and Call Rehearing
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA — Today the Southern Environmental Law Center and Appalachian Mountain Advocates on behalf of their client conservation and environmental groups asked the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to halt construction by Atlantic Coast...
Conservation Groups File Challenge to National Forest Service’s Hasty Decision
Richmond, VA— Today, the Southern Environmental Law Center and The Sierra Club on behalf of a coalition of conservation groups filed suit in federal court against the National Forest Service over a grant recently issued to developers of the fracked...
FERC Faces Legal Challenge Over ACP Decision
Charlottesville, VA— The Southern Environmental Law Center and Appalachian Mountain Advocates filed a challenge in federal court on behalf of 11 conservation groups challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s decision to permit the...
Legal challenges filed targeting state and federal Atlantic Coast Pipeline approvals
SELC and Appalachian Mountain Advocates, on behalf of a coalition of community and conservation groups, filed a legal challenge to the Virginia State Water Control Board’s approval of a water quality certification for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline....
Legal Challenges Filed Targeting Atlantic Coast Pipeline Approvals
Charlottesville, VA – The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) and Appalachian Mountain Advocates, on behalf of a coalition of community and conservation groups, filed a legal challenge to the Virginia State Water Control Board’s approval of a...
SELC Statement on Potential Purchase of SCANA by Dominion Energy
CHARLESTON, SC — A Dominion Energy purchase of SCANA would still force South Carolina power customers to pay for a nuclear plant that will never produce power, and it will likely be a springboard to driving Dominion’s controversial, unneeded and...
Legality questionable in Virginia State Water Control Board’s pipeline decision
Today the Virginia State Water Control Board issued a 4-3 vote to conditionally approve the Clean Water Act permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. This decision was made hastily and without providing any clarity to new language presented by the...
New Information Shows Utility Profits, Not Need, is Behind $5.5 Billion Pipeline
Chapel Hill, N.C. – New information from Duke Energy shows that utility customers in North Carolina do not need the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Duke’s recent Integrated Resource Plan shows there is a drastic reduction in the forecast for electricity...
Local and citizen groups object to N.C. DEQ’s flawed permit for $5.5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline
Update (12/7): This week North Carolina Division of Air Quality withheld, for the time being, its approval for the Northampton compressor station and requested more information from developers. The agency’s questions reflect criticisms outlined in...
Forest Service decision on Atlantic Coast Pipeline puts National Forests at risk
SELC strongly opposes the U.S. Forest Service decision today to approve the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project, a natural gas pipeline slated to cut through 600-miles of West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina, including lands in the Appalachian...
Atlantic Coast Pipeline Decision Puts National Forests at Risk
Charlottesville, Va. – The Southern Environmental Law Center strongly opposes today’s U.S. Forest Service decision to approve the Atlantic Coast Pipeline Project (ACP), a natural gas pipeline slated to cut through 600-miles of West Virginia,...
Groups take legal action against FERC on Atlantic Coast Pipeline
SELC, in conjunction with a coalition of affected land owners and conservation groups, today filed a request for rehearing urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reconsider its approval of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a massive...
SELC op-ed: Construction of Atlantic Coast Pipeline will destroy lands, endanger state’s waters
Recently Senior Attorney Greg Buppert highlighted the key decisions on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline pending before the Virginia State Water Control Board in a letter published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Written with Peggy Sanner, senior attorney...
FERC Approves Unnecessary and Destructive Pipelines
Charlottesville, VA - Late Friday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued its permits for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Moutain Valley Pipeline projects. The Southern Environmental Law Center, which had petitioned FERC for an evidentiary...
Breaking: FERC approves contested pipeline permits
Late Friday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued its permits for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Mountain Valley Pipeline projects. Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur offered a dissenting opinion. The pipeline is slated to carry natural gas...
Dominion Energy’s contrived need for natural gas on display again
A recent recording revealed that a Dominion representative made allusions to expanding the Atlantic Coast Pipeline beyond North Carolina, into South Carolina. This latest revelation adds to mounting evidence and concern that there is no real need...
Dominion doesn’t deny preparing to charge customers $2B for pipeline construction
Virginia regulators just finished hearing three days of testimony about utilities’ long-term plans across the Commonwealth. Most notably, testimony established that Dominion Energy’s own data show construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline would...
Lack of key info leads to roadblock for N.C. pipeline permit
Pipeline developers’ plans to begin construction on the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline in November were thwarted last week by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality when the agency issued a request for more information before...
Explore the stories of people in the path of the pipeline
For the Harris family, it was when Dominion Energy told them they would be bulldozing just behind their kids’ swing set, despite the parents’ objections. For Hazel Palmer, it was when she realized Dominion Energy could sue her for not letting them...
Virginia lawmakers, conservation groups call on DEQ to deny pipeline’s water certification
SELC, on behalf of more than a dozen conservation groups, is calling on the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to protect the water quality of communities across the state. In comments submitted Tuesday, SELC outlined the potential dangers...
Virginia Lawmakers, Conservation Groups Call on DEQ to Deny Pipeline’s Water Certification
Charlottesville, VA — The Southern Environmental Law Center, on behalf of more than a dozen conservation groups, is calling on the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to protect the water quality of communities across the state. In comments...
Federal court rules FERC must consider greenhouse gas emissions from pipelines
Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated a 2016 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval of three natural gas pipeline segments in the Southeast. Similar to the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the vast majority of the gas...
Federal Court Rules FERC Must Consider Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Pipelines
Charlottesville, VA — Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D. C. Circuit vacated a 2016 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval of three natural gas pipeline segments in the Southeast. Similar to the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the...
Dominion Puts Profits Ahead of Public Necessity
Charlottesville, VA — Expert analysis filed with the Virginia State Corporation Commission today reveals that Dominion customers will end up paying anywhere between $1.6 to 2.3 billion in unneeded costs if Dominion Energy builds the Atlantic Coast...
FERC confirmations raise threat of fast-tracking pipelines
The U.S. Senate confirmed Neil Chatterjee, a Senate aide to majority leader Mitch McConnell, and Robert Powelson, a Pennsylvania utility executive, for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) before adjourning for August recess last night....
FERC Should Not Fast Track Pending Pipeline Decisions Under Newly Confirmed Leadership
Charlottesville, VA - The Southern Environmental Law Center released the following statement on the Senate’s confirmation today of Neil Chatterjee and Rob Powelson for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Today’s confirmations restores...
SELC, Sierra Club ask N.C. officials to scrutinize utility deals claiming need for $5B ACP
SELC, on behalf of the Sierra Club, filed a motion with the North Carolina Utilities Commission urging the commission to reconsider its approval of natural gas contracts for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Duke Energy Carolinas, Duke Energy Progress,...
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