Atlantic Coast Pipeline Can’t Cross BRP In Virginia

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline that will stretch 600 miles from West Virginia to North Carolina has hit another snag. The pipeline’s path goes thru Virginia and the current path takes it across the Blue Ridge Parkway. But that may not happen now. A three-judge panel on a federal appeals court revoked the right-of-way that the National Park Service had granted the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

Atlantic Coast Pipeline Can’t Cross BRP

The Sierra Club along with the Virginia Wilderness Committee, both represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, argued that the National Park Service did not have the authority to grant the right-of-way for the gas pipeline. The SELC claims that violated the Park Service’s mandate of conservation.

A right of way of about 125 feet is needed for the pipeline. Trees would have to be cut down to make a clearing for the pipeline. In its ruling, the 4th Circuit said the Blue Ridge Parkway serves as a recreational and scenic site. The pipeline would pass underneath the parkway, but the proposed route would require removing all of the trees from a portion of nearby forest, leaving a clearing that would be visible from at least one key observation point along the parkway, “thus significantly decreasing the park’s scenic value.”

Clearing the path and some construction has been done in West Virginia and North Carolina, but not in Virginia. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline will run over 600 miles transporting natural gas from West Virginia, thru Virgina and into North Carolina. The land needed for the pipeline will cover about 12,000 acres. Atlantic Coast Pipeline once completed would move 1.5 Bcf/d of Appalachian natural gas to the Southeast. The project is backed by Dominion Energy Inc., Duke Energy Corp., Piedmont Natural Gas and Southern Company Gas.This new ruling will certain cause a delay.