Politics & Government
NEXUS Pipeline: Environmentalists Ask Court To Stop Construction
The environmental groups say the federal commission that authorized the work to begin didn't consider all of the legal challenges.
TOLEDO, OH — Work began in the past month on the 255-mile-long NEXUS natural gas pipeline, one of several built or in the planning stages to carry gas from West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio into Michigan and Canada, but environmentalists are asking a federal appeals court in Washington to stop construction. Its the latest in a slew of challenges against pipelines being built to transport gas from shale deposits in Appalachia.
The Sierra Club and others filed the lawsuit on Monday. They requested a new review of whether the NEXUS pipeline is necessary and challenged the decision that allowed construction to move forward. Surveyors recently started staking the route and crews have cleared trees for the pipeline.
Plans for the pipelines have faced intense opposition from residents worried about property rights, safety and damage to the environment. The mayor of a small city in northeast Ohio has gone to federal court in a bid to move the NEXUS pipeline route to a less populated area while another group of property owners haven't had success in getting the courts to consider their attempt to block the project.
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The opponents face an uphill battle because there aren't any known instances of a pipeline project being derailed after receiving approval from the commission that approved the pipeline.
The lawsuit seeks an immediate halt to construction on the NEXUS pipeline.
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A spokesman for the project didn't immediately return a message seeking comment.
The Sierra Club is asking a federal appeals court to order a review of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval allowing construction.
The environmental groups say that the federal commission is allowing work to begin before all of the legal challenges are considered.
"FERC is rubber stamping pipeline permits without sufficiently examining the impacts to communities, our climate or showing that they are actually needed," said Shelly Corbin, of the Sierra Club in Ohio.
A spokeswoman for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission declined to comment on the lawsuit.
By JOHN SEEWER, Associated Press
Photo credit: Tony Dejak/Associated Press
