Clean Water for North Carolina
Will property owners who lost land to scuttled Atlantic Coast Pipeline get it back?
Advocates cry foul as future of thousands of easements in North Carolina and Virginia remains uncertain Dominion Energy laid claim to 3,100 tracts of private land along the Atlantic Coast Pipeline route, including hundreds in North Carolina, but the company is not immediately returning that acreage to property owners, even though the project has been cancelled.
PW exclusive: The death of a pipeline
After years of effort, opponents of the cancelled Atlantic Coast Pipeline celebrate, reflect and look to the future Belinda Joyner had returned from Sunday church and was settling in for the afternoon when she heard the news. “Is this real?” Joyner asked her friend, who sent an email with the official announcement. “Yes,” her friend replied.
18 groups petition Gov. Cooper for more COVID-19 data transparency, especially from meat-packing plants
As the number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to rise in North Carolina, there is still a lack of data regarding outbreaks at meat-packing plants, where employees work close to one another on assembly lines and kill floors. The dearth of transparency by both the NC Department of Health and Human Services and the […]
US Supreme Court hands win to Atlantic Coast Pipeline, but other hurdles remain for project
By Sarah Vogelsong and Lisa Sorg The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the controversial Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a 600-mile natural gas pipeline being built by utility heavyweights Dominion Energy and Duke Energy, can cross beneath the Appalachian Trail in Virginia’s George Washington National Forest. But the 7-2 decision, penned by Justice Clarence Thomas […]
Carcinogens, other contaminants found near Roxboro and Sutton coal ash sites as EPA looks to weaken rules
Policy Watch recently reviewed more than 20,000 pages of data for a series of stories about groundwater contamination in wells around Duke Energy’s coal ash ponds: Marshall, Cliffside, Allen, Buck and Dan River. This is the final installment in the series, which covers Sutton and Roxboro in context of the recent announcement of proposed changes to coal ash rules by the EPA.
Over widespread opposition, DEQ approves key water quality permit for Atlantic Coast Pipeline
This post has been updated with an announcement from Gov. Roy Cooper. For more than a year, environmental and citizens’ groups have battled against the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. But today, the NC Department of Environmental Quality granted a key permit that will allow the project to begin its 160-mile route through the state. DEQ’s Division […]
FERC approves Atlantic Coast Pipeline; lawsuits are likely
In a Friday night surprise, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted 2-1 to approve the $5.5 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline, 160 miles of which will run through eastern North Carolina. However, the project still has yet to receive its required state permits and it is likely to face legal challenges from environmental advocates. FERC “completely […]
Comment period ends Aug. 19 on state’s water permit for Atlantic Coast Pipeline; plus a look at who’s in the blast zone
The NC Department of Environmental Quality is accepting public comment until Aug. 19 at 5 p.m. on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s application for a water quality certification and buffer authorization. This is known as a 401 certification. Submit comments by email with “ACP” in the subject line: [email protected] [dropcap] O [/dropcap] n three of the […]
Atlantic Coast Pipeline opponents demand federal regulators “rescind and revise” “inadequate” environmental report
Three citizens groups opposed to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline have filed a motion demanding that federal regulators rescind the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Only after substantial revisions, such as including significant pieces of missing information, should the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reissue the DEIS. Friends of Nelson, Wild Virginia and Heartwood filed the motion with FERC today. The 1,000-page […]
Environmental news to watch for this week: Endangered Species Act, Atlantic Coast Pipeline
Federal energy officials have scheduled three “drop-in sessions” this week for public input on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Atlantic Coast Pipeline, built by Dominion Energy. These sessions won’t be conducted like many traditional public meetings — citizens petitioning their government openly and in front of a crowd. Instead, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will […]
Day 6: Trump expedites Atlantic Coast Pipeline among 50 priority projects
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline, often referred to as the Dakota Access Pipeline of the east because of its routing through Native American lands in North Carolina, is on the fast-track to approval. Today President Trump signed an executive order to expedite environmental reviews and approvals for high priority infrastructure projects, including the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, to be […]