Dominion sees 'clear path to approval' for pipeline after FERC releases report

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released its final report on the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline Friday, paving the way for final approval of the project.

It's up to FERC to issue that final approval, and Friday's report, the "Final Environmental Impact Statement," does not represent an official decision yet on the pipeline. In making that decision, the commission will weigh Friday's environmental report against whether the project meets a public need and whether its proposed gas rates are just and reasonable in making that decision, according to FERC spokeswoman Tamara Young-Allen.

In its environmental assessment, FERC concluded that the pipeline's construction and operation "would result in temporary and permanent impacts on the environment" and "would result in some adverse effects."

However, the commission also wrote that if the pipeline developers follow through with "impact avoidance, minimization, and mitigation measures" and heed FERC recommendations to "further avoid, minimize, and mitigate these impacts, most project effects would be reduced to less-than-significant levels."

Dominion Energy sees this conclusion as favorable — it "provides a a clear path for final approval of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline this fall," said Leslie Hartz, Dominion's vice president of engineering and construction, in a press release. "With this report, the region moves one step closer toward a stronger economy, a more secure energy supply and a cleaner environment."

Hartz lauded the "thorough and exhaustive environmental reviews" that culminated in this report and emphasized that it demonstrates that the ACP has "taken unprecedented steps to protect environmental resources and minimize impacts on landowners."

Lew Freeman, executive director of the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance, an organization that's vocally opposed the pipeline, said FERC's environmental review "reveals significant gaps in information and woefully inadequate analysis" in a press release.

That's "no surprise," Freeman adds, "based on the agency’s historic rubber-stamp approach to virtually all natural gas interstate pipelines."

Freeman emphasized that the pipeline still "is not a done deal."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Read the full story in the News Leader

News