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 threw out Dominion and Duke Energy’s Fish and Wildlife permit because it failed to protect endangered species in the pipeline’s path. A permit that complies with the law is required to build the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. 

“In its rush to help this pipeline company, the agency failed to protect species on the brink of extinction – its most important duty.  Thispipeline would blast through some of the last populations of these rare animals,” said Patrick Hunter, attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. “There is no evidence that this pipeline is needed for anything other than Dominion and Duke Energy profits.  For the sake of these rare species and its customers’ wallets, it’s time for these utilities to walk away from this badly planned boondoggle.”

Construction on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline has been stopped since December 2018 when multiple permits were called into question or overturned including permits from the Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Forest Service, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.   Those permits are all still outstanding. Among the problems for this pipeline is a Federal Court decision that the Forest Service erred in allowing the pipeline to carve through national forests and was not authorized to allow the project to cross the Appalachian Trail. There is no clear path forward to construct the pipeline on its current route. The project is several years behind schedule and more than $2 billion dollars over budget. If constructed, ratepayers will be expected to pay for the pipeline while the energy companies collect a 15% profit.

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For more than 30 years, the Southern Environmental Law Center has used the power of the law to champion the environment of the Southeast. With more than 80 attorneys and nine offices across the region, SELC is widely recognized as the Southeast’s foremost environmental organization and regional leader. SELC works on a full range of environmental issues to protect our natural resources and the health and well-being of all the people in our region. www.SouthernEnvironment.org