Enviros Force Brief Halt to Atlantic Sunrise Project
A coalition of 17 environmental groups led by the Sierra Club was granted an administrative stay November 6 halting construction of the Williams Partners’ $3bn Atlantic Sunrise project that would move Marcellus gas into Transco’s interstate gas transmission system.
On November 8, however, the stay was lifted by the court, allowing work to resume immediately.
“We are pleased that the court has lifted the administrative stay of construction activities and denied the emergency motion for stay filed by the project opponents,” Williams Partners COO Michael Dunn said. “We will promptly resume construction activities on this important pipeline project, which will leverage existing energy infrastructure to deliver economic growth and help millions of Americans gain access to affordable Pennsylvania-produced clean-burning natural gas.”
The coalition had sought the injunction, at the US Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, against the February 3, 2017 approval of the Atlantic Sunrise project by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Ferc) on the grounds that the commission had not adequately addressed the upstream and downstream impacts of the project, which would move up to 1.7bn ft3/day of shale gas from the Marcellus field to markets up and down the US Eastern Seaboard.
“Today’s decision reinforces the fact that Ferc must conduct a thorough examination of the threat these dirty and dangerous projects pose to communities across the country,” Sierra Club senior campaign representative Patrick Grenter said in a statement. “Williams and Ferc can no longer railroad this project without adequately and legally examining the threats Atlantic Sunrise will create for our health, our water, and our air.”
When greenfield construction on the project began in mid-September, the Sierra Club led a civil disobedience protest at one of eight construction spreads in Pennsylvania, leading to the arrest of 23 protestors.
On November 7, Williams Partners filed a motion seeking clarification of the administrative stay, the purpose of which was to give the court time to consider an emergency motion filed by the environmental coalition that would force Ferc to extend its permitting process for the pipeline project.
“Atlantic Sunrise has undergone a nearly four-year, extensive review process and is operating and being constructed in compliance with all state and federal permits,” Dunn said. “These current actions by opponents of American energy are…idling thousands of workers in Pennsylvania and could delay the benefits of low-cost energy delivery to millions of American families.”
During peak construction periods, Atlantic Sunrise is anticipated to directly employ about 2,300 people in 10 Pennsylvania counties and up to 6,000 additional jobs in related industries. It is expected to be put into service in mid-2018.
Dale Lunan