Atlantic Coast Pipeline Construction Halted

Last week, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals stayed a U.S. Fish & Wildlife permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) because of insufficient wildlife protections affecting approximately 100 miles in West Virginia and Virginia. In a subsequent decision this week, the same court rejected U.S. Forest Service approval to allow the ACP to cross the George Washington National Forest, Monongahela National Forest, and the Appalachian Trail. The Fourth Circuit said that U.S. Forest Service ignored federal law and its own agency rules when they granted the permit.