RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Dominion Energy says it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its appeal after a lower court declined to reconsider throwing out a permit allowing the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to cross two national forests, including parts of the Appalachian Trail.
In a statement Tuesday, lead pipeline developer Dominion said it expects the filing of an appeal in the next 90 days. On Monday, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a request for a full-court rehearing from Dominion and the U.S. Forest Service.
A three-judge panel ruled in December that the Forest Service lacks the authority to authorize the trail crossing and had “abdicated its responsibility to preserve national forest resources.”
The natural gas pipeline would originate in West Virginia and run through North Carolina and Virginia.
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