Fracked Gas Pipeline Builder Claims Its Harms Are Not 'Significant'

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Late Friday, the Sierra Club and Appalachian Mountain Advocates, on behalf of a coalition of environmental and community groups, filed a reply in support of their motion for a stay of construction of the fracked gas Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline. The groups filed their motion for stay on January 16; this filing was a response to arguments by the pipeline’s builder, Transco, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that they should not have to halt construction while the underlying case challenging FERC’s approval of the pipeline proceeds.

In its reply, Transco claimed that "[p]etitioners have failed to demonstrate not only that they will likely suffer irreparable injury, but also that their irreparable injury is 'great,' meaning significant in degree and beyond remediation." But construction of this massive pipeline is already inflicting irreparable harm on the communities and landscapes in its path. While a large corporation like Transco may not consider the effects to be “significant in degree,” the impacts for local communities are enormous and long-lasting.

In response, Ann Pinca, President of Lebanon Pipeline Awareness released the following statement:

"Our monitoring program has enabled us to see firsthand the damage done by pipeline construction through the carelessness and negligence of Transco’s contractors. It is time to stop the construction of the fracked gas Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline, just as the Sunoco Mariner East 2 project has been halted, until we are guaranteed this pipeline can and will be constructed properly and safely. Transco must also provide conclusive proof there is a true public need for this dirty, dangerous project.”

Ryan Talbott, Executive Director of the Allegheny Defense Project, said:

“In addition to the long-term impacts from the pipeline itself, there will be widespread impacts to Pennsylvania's forests and communities from increased fracking to supply gas to the pipeline. FERC, however, ignored these impacts in its rush to rubber-stamp this pipeline. Such short-sightedness only served Transco's interest for speedy approval and came at the expense of Pennsylvania's forests, watersheds, and communities.”