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The Atlantic Coast Pipeline was a planned
natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...
pipeline slated to run from West Virginia, through Virginia, to eastern North Carolina. It was canceled in July 2020.“About l ACP.” ''Home - Atlantic Coast Pipeline'', atlanticcoastpipeline.com/about/default.aspx.


Characteristics

Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC was the developer and planned operator of the pipeline; the company was a joint venture between Dominion Energy and Duke Energy,“Cost of Dominion's Delayed Atlantic Coast Pipeline Rises to $8 Billion.” ''Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis'', 12 Feb. 2020, ieefa.org/cost-of-dominions-delayed-atlantic-coast-pipeline-rises-to-8-billion/. with Dominion serving as the lead stakeholder. The proposed route was to begin in
Harrison County, West Virginia Harrison County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 65,921, making it West Virginia's 7th most populous county. Its county seat is Clarksbu ...
, drawing gas from wells in the Utica and Marcellus gas fields, and travel southeast through eastern Virginia and North Carolina to its terminus in Robeson County, North Carolina. The route would have crossed the
Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail, also called the A.T., is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tra ...
and the
Blue Ridge Parkway The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and National Scenic Byway, All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is the longest linear park in the U.S., runs for through 29 counties in Virginia and ...
in Virginia and included a lateral extending east to Chesapeake, Virginia, bringing the total length to about . The pipeline was proposed to have a diameter for much of its length, with the southern end in North Carolina measuring wide. It would have had a capacity of about of gas daily.


Development

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline originated in September 2013 when the Obama administration granted a request from Dominion Transmission to export gas to Japan and India. The proposal was announced on record at West Virginia County Commissioner Meetings on May 27, 2014, in Lewis County, West Virginia, on July 1, 2014, in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, and on August 7, 2014, in Randolph County, North Carolina, and the developers began the application process for regulatory approval the following month. The
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is an independent agency of the United States government that regulates the interstate transmission and wholesale sale of electricity and natural gas and regulates the prices of interstate transport ...
issued a draft environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project on December 30, 2016, with a final EIS issued on July 21, 2017, after a period of public comment on the draft. Developers had hoped to begin construction in late 2017 and to begin gas transport in late 2019, and the project cost was originally estimated at $5.1 billion. Legal proceedings stalled construction, however, and expected costs ballooned to nearly $8 billion. On August 6, 2018, the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rescinded two approvals permitting the pipeline, one from the
Fish and Wildlife Service A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fins and a hard skull, but lacking limbs with digits. Fish can be grouped into the more basal jawless fish and the more common jawed fis ...
and another from the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...
regarding crossing the
Blue Ridge Parkway The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and National Scenic Byway, All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty. The parkway, which is the longest linear park in the U.S., runs for through 29 counties in Virginia and ...
. The fact that the proposed route crossed beneath the Appalachian Trail generated significant legal difficulty,Wallace, Danielle. “Supreme Court Hears Atlantic Coast Pipeline Case, Roberts Warns of 'Impermeable Barrier' along Appalachian Trail.” ''Fox News'', FOX News Network, 24 Feb. 2020, www.foxnews.com/us/supreme-court-atlantic-coast-pipeline-appalachian-trail. and the Supreme Court reversed the Fourth Circuit's ruling on the Forest Service's permit process, deciding that the Appalachian Trail's segment through the George Washington National Forest was a right-of-way on land belonging to the Forest Service rather than land part of the National Park System where pipelines may not be built. The permit to cross the Blue Ridge Parkway was still pending. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline was one of the priority infrastructure projects of the Donald Trump administration,Trump makes $137bn list of “emergency” infrastructure schemes, all needing private finance
Global Construction Review. January 30, 2018. Accessed February 10, 2019.
and the administration backed Dominion Energy throughout the appeal process. Dominion Energy had hoped to have completed the pipeline, which was to be built in sections, by late 2021, with service by early 2022. Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC claimed that the project will generate $28 million per year in local tax revenue, 17,240 construction-based jobs, and 2,200 jobs in other fields.


Opposition to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline

Plans for the pipeline led to protests from landowners in its path, largely in Virginia. An anti-pipeline group, "All Pain No Gain," raised money to run radio and television advertising in opposition of the pipeline, and dozens of landowners attempted to block surveyors from their property, though the pipeline's developers filed lawsuits against them, and Virginia law permits surveying on private property, as well as the use of eminent domain in construction. Local community groups, including Nelson County, VA-based Friends of Wintergreen, a not-for-profit group representing the largest residential and recreational communities in Virginia, retained national pipeline engineers and environmental specialists to demonstrate the technical infeasibility and inappropriateness of the project in western Virginia. Environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, Southern Environmental Law Center (a Charlottesville, Virginia-based non-profit), and Appalachian Voices, also expressed opposition. After the issuance of the draft EIS, a Sierra Club official said that the developers had not proven the demand for the gas transported by the pipeline, as well as criticizing the EIS for not addressing the risks of building a pipeline through unstable
karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...
terrain prone to sinkholes and landslides. An official at Dominion Energy, said that the pipeline route had been adjusted 300 times, for a total of of rerouting, since its original draft in order to accommodate "environmentally sensitive areas" and other concerns. Exaggerated claims of job creation were challenged by student reporters in West Virginia. Critics note that the proposed route disproportionately impacts Native Americans, including members of the Meherrin, Haliwa-Saponi, Coharie, and Lumbee Tribes of North Carolina. Data from the EIS show that Native Americans make up over 13% of the population living in census tracts located within one mile of the proposed route through North Carolina while constituting only 1.2% of the state's population. Although the EIS contained an
environmental justice Environmental justice is a social movement that addresses injustice that occurs when poor or marginalized communities are harmed by hazardous waste, resource extraction, and other land uses from which they do not benefit. The movement has gene ...
analysis as required by federal Executive Order 12898, the analysis failed to identify disproportionate impacts, leading an academic researcher to highlight links between the flawed analysis and the failure of regulators and developers to adequately consult tribal governments. The same researcher noted similarities between tribal consultation issues surrounding both the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Dakota Access Pipeline. Individual tribal governments and North Carolina's Commission of Indian Affairs have raised formal concerns to federal regulators about lack of government consultation on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project. The National Congress of American Indians also issued a formal resolution calling for permitting activities to cease until regulators engage in meaningful consultation with the Haliwa-Saponi and other tribes living along the proposed route. Overall, approximately 30,000 Native Americans live in census tracts located within one mile of the proposed route of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Communities that would be affected by the Atlantic Coast Pipeline have begun direct, nonviolent action to oppose it. Bill and Lynn Limpert, who own 120 acres of property near the pipeline's planned route, organized a summer encampment titled "No Pipeline Summer: Camp to Save the Limperts’ Land.” The encampment, which lasted through the summer of 2018, was composed of visitors opposed to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline or the Mountain Valley Pipeline. One major lawsuit filed in opposition to the pipeline was due to permits granted by the
United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...
(USFS) to allow a run of the pipeline to cross about under the
Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail, also called the A.T., is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tra ...
. A coalition of environmental groups filed suit against the USFS and the development group on several grounds, including that the decision to issue the permit was arbitrary and capricious and that the special use right of way authority for the lands of the Appalachian Trail, considered part of the National Parks System, could not be granted. The
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (in case citations, 4th Cir.) is a United States federal court, federal court located in Richmond, Virginia, with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district cou ...
ruled in favor of these groups on several grounds, including that the Trail was a national park and outside the USFS' jurisdiction. The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which found in '' United States Forest Service v. Cowpasture River Preservation Assn.'' in June 2020 that the Trail itself was considered only to be a right of way within the national forest, and the USFS had authority to issue the permit. Other parts of the original lawsuit remain valid, such as the arbitrary and capricious consideration of the USFS decision.


Cancellation

On July 5, 2020, Dominion Energy and Duke Energy announced that they would cancel the project due to legal uncertainty and delays concerning the project's costs. On the same day, Berkshire Hathaway Energy announced it had reached an agreement to acquire Dominion Energy's gas transmission and storage business for $9.7 billion. Berkshire Hathaway did not acquire the incomplete Atlantic Coast Pipeline as part of the deal. At the time of cancellation, easements for 98 percent of the route of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline had been secured and 31.4 miles of pipe had already been installed. The utilities plan to leave the installed pipe in place and keep the easement agreements they had purchased from landowners along the pipeline route, including those secured through
eminent domain Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, resumption/compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not include the power to take and t ...
. This leaves open the possibility that the project could potentially be revived at a later date.


See also

* Energy policy of the Barack Obama administration * Energy policy of the Donald Trump administration * Dakota Access Pipeline * Keystone Pipeline System


References

{{reflist Natural gas pipelines in North Carolina Natural gas pipelines in Virginia Natural gas pipelines in West Virginia Proposed pipelines in the United States Environmental impact assessment