On September 14, presumably while the state was still under his State of Emergency declaration of Sept. 6, Gov. Roy Cooper issued a delay on the decision whether to allow the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to be constructed.

The pipeline would transport natural gas across West Virginia into Virginia and North Carolina. Over the summer it received a favorable environmental review from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), noting that any adverse effects it would have on endangered species would be insignificant as long as it was built according to proper construction and mitigation techniques.

Environmentalist have been undaunted in pressuring the governor and the Department of Environmental Quality to oppose the pipeline. A decision due by Sept. 19 loomed. Cooper and DEQ officials sent a request for more site-specific information from pipeline developers, thus delaying a decision by at least three months.