On January 4 the Division of Energy, Mineral and Land Resources issued a letter of disapproval for the erosion and sediment control plan for the northern portion of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline route. UtilityDive reports:
The Division of Energy, Mineral and Land Resources rejected Atlantic Coast’s erosion and sediment control plan on more than 14 points, but said the company could submit a revised plan addressing the issues. The state would have 15 days from approve or disprove the revised plan. Conversely, ACP could contest the rejection and will need to request an administrative hearing within 60 days.
Governor Roy Cooper’s ongoing silence on the issue was duly noted by Southeast Energy News:
Issued without any comment from the governor or the head of his environmental agency, Wednesday’s announcement comes as both pipeline foes and friends pressure Cooper to take a personal stand on the proposal. So far, the governor has been mum, signaling his stance on the project only through his officials’ implementation of federal and state environmental laws.
Environment approval by FERC, delay tactics by the Cooper administration
The pipeline project received approval from The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the pipeline back in July 2017. FERC gave the ACP project a favorable environmental review, 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.
Since then, as noted here back in September, Cooper has been quietly stalling the project with redundant requests for more information and other delaying tactics.
