A lawsuit brought by a coalition of anti – pipeline groups, including the Delaware Riverkeeper, Sierra Club and Lancaster Against Pipelines, was rejected by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday. The court upheld Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection’s actions through issuing Clean Water Act permit for the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline that is nearing completion.
The decision by the court comes on the heels of similar decisions by courts in Pennsylvania and at the federal level, throwing out frivolous lawsuits by anti-pipeline activists attempting to delay or halt legally permitted projects. In fact, last week the Pennsylvania Supreme Court denied to hear two appeals from an anti – pipeline group on local zoning ordinances.
In both cases opposition groups appealed permits granted from the state’s largest regulators: the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Pipeline infrastructure in Pennsylvania, such as Atlantic Sunrise and Mariner East, have gone through very rigorous review processes that included input by pipeline opponents. Both projects received approval from state regulators and courts have continued to confirm their permits over opponents continued inadequate objections.