Huge Environmental Win :
Atlantic Coast Pipeline Cancelled and Dakota Access Pipeline Shut Down for EIR
Atlantic Coast Pipeline
Dominion Energy and Duke Energy have announced the cancellation of the Atlantic Coast pipeline project due to “legal uncertainty”.
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline was a natural gas pipeline planned to run 600 miles from West Virginia where it would draw gas from wells in the Utica and Marcellus gas fields and pass through Virginia, to eastern North Carolina. Originally the project was planned to start construction late 2017 and begin transporting gas in late 2019. However due to legal proceedings the project had been stalled and began to exceed the budget expectations by almost 3 billion dollars.
The project began about six years ago and continued to face pushback from locals, tribal communities, environmental advocates and legal defense. Since late 2018 construction was stoped while the US Forth Circuit Court of Appeals revoked two permits from the Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service.
After years of staying strong and fighting against profit driven pollution, communities have won a big victory.
Dakota Access Pipeline
A United States District Judge has ordered that the Dakota Access pipeline be shut down and emptied by August 5th while an Environmental Impact Review is conducted by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. This report is estimated to take up to 13 months. This is a huge win for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe who has fought against this pipeline for year.
The ruling stated that the government had not previously done enough studies on the pipelines effect on surrounding human environments which is required according to the National Environmental Policy Act. NEPA “requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making decisions” such as permit applications.
The Dakota Access pipeline is a 1,172-mile-long oil pipeline that begins in the shale oil fields of the Bakken formation in northwest North Dakota and continues through South Dakota and Iowa to an oil terminal near Patoka, Illinois
Energy Transfer Partners (ET), the company who developed the pipeline said it plans to file a motion and potentially seek an appeal from the Court of Appeals.
This is a huge step towards clean and safe environments but its not the end. We must continue to require the government to regulate this project and others like it.
What have we learned from the fight?
Organizations have come together to fight against both the Dakota Access Pipeline and Atlantic Coast Pipeline in order to save vulnerable land, environments, wildlife and communities from hazardous development . This fight has brought awareness to the public about the injustices our government brought against Native American Tribes and the land that is required for them to continue to thrive on.
NRDC explains elegantly the three lessons that were learned which include :
Local Voices Matter
Environmental Justice Matters
FERC Reform Matters
Read the full article here.
