High Court Green-Lights Pipeline Route Through Appalachian Trail

[douglas9]

WASHINGTON (CN) — Atlantic Coast Pipeline won the right to cut through the Appalachian Trail with a 7-2 Supreme Court reversal on Monday.

Once completed, the 605-mile natural gas pipeline will span West Virginia to North Carolina, including one 16-mile stretch of the George Washington National Forest.

Though the pipeline company obtained special-use permits to that end from the U.S. Forest Service, environmental groups that filed suit claimed that any work would require congressional approval because a tenth of the pipeline in the forest would run through the Appalachian Trail.

The Fourth Circuit agreed to block construction on the basis that the National Park Service that administers the Appalachian Trail, but the Supreme Court reversed Monday.

Writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas said federal lands cannot be converted into the property of the National Park System merely because the Park Service obtained rights-of-way agreements for the length of the trail within national forests.

https://www.courthousenews.com/high-court-green-lights-pipeline-route-through-appalachian-trail/

[mr_lebowski]

1. As much as this pisses me off in its effect, legally-speaking it sounds correct.

Obtaining a right-of-way does not confer the same rights as property ownership.

I'm assuming this is the correct explanation of course, I don't actually know either way.

[appalachiablue]

2. *I'll X-Post in the Appalachian Group now if ok with you.

K/R

[Finishline42]

3. IMO - trying to keep pipelines from being built is valiant but futile

The profit motive behind building them is relentless. While a successful effort to keep one being built is a cause for celebration, they don't stop trying to get it built. And eventually they find somebody they can convince ($$$) and they get an approval.

I think an effort should be made into making sure that the quality of the piping is up to standard. For instance, the Keystone pipeline, was to transport bitumen, a higher viscosity than what most pipelines transport. Of course you should use pipe that is designed for the higher pressures necessary to pump that crap, but what makes them do so? Cost accounts will try to limit what they spend on pipe to increase profits.

I also think there should be a tax based on how much and what is pumped that goes into a fund that would help pay for clean-ups. The more often your pipeline leaks the more you have to pay.

Reminds me of that pipeline on a Calif beach that leaked a bunch of oil. The pipeline was so old you could poke a hole in it with your finger. They kept using it until it failed. Probably a LLC so they just walked away.