New Pipeline Battle On The Atlantic Coast

Originally posted at anti-aggressionleague.com

Source: Indian Country Media Network and NC Policy Watch

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is a natural gas pipeline that will run 550 miles from the fracking fields in West Virginia to Robeson County, North Carolina. It's construction will be undertaken by Dominion Resources and the pipeline will be operated by Duke Energy, with an estimated cost of $5B. Trump expedited approval for the pipeline back on January 25th when he signed EO to expedite environmental reviews and approvals for 50 high priority 'infrastructure' projects, the most prominent of which were the Dakota Access Pipeline and Keystone XL. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an environmental impact statement for the project back in December, but has not yet issued a permit for construction.

As with almost all pipeline projects, construction cannot begin without using the guns of the state to steal other people's property. Many landowners along the proposed route have already mobilized and formed coalitions to stop the pending eminent domain seizure of their property. Landowners in Halifax County and Northampton County Virginia have already organized into the Concerned Stewards of Halifax County group to oppose the pipeline. The ACP already filed lawsuits against 27 Virginia landowners, in 2015, for permission to survey land that fell along the proposed route. The pipeline is also planned to run directly through Lumbee tribal lands in Robeson County, North Carolina. The Lumbee tribal council has yet to take a stance on the Atlantic Costal Pipeline. The Lumbee are not a federally recognized tribal nation so it is very unlikely they will be consulted when the pipeline is built through their land and even less so with Trump as president.