Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1017425
12 UCW AUGUST 22-28, 2018 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM e federal government has ordered a halt to all work on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline after a panel of judges sus- pended two key permits for the massive project to bring natural gas from West Virginia through central Virginia and eight North Carolina counties, including Cumberland. e U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Vir- ginia, vacated a permit issued by the National Park Service to allow the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to tunnel under the federally owned Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. e appel- late court said the agency had not explained how the pipeline coincided with the mandate to conserve public lands. e court also vacated a permit is- sued by the U.S. Fish and Wild- life Service governing impact on endangered wildlife. Regional energy companies contend that public utilities in Virginia and North Carolina need new, lower-cost supplies of natural gas to generate cleaner electricity, heat the homes of a growing popula- tion and power new industries like manufacturing. ey say the Atlantic Coast Pipeline would be an energy provider, job creator and economic game-changer. e underground natural gas transmission pipeline would provide new supplies of gas from West Virginia into Virginia and North Carolina. e project is also under review by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. Updates on permit applications, the regula- tory review process, public hearings and meetings, public comments and other related information are posted on its website. Rural property own- ers, primarily farmers, object to the pipeline being routed through their property. Locally, the proposed route runs parallel to I-95 through God- win and Wade. It then crosses the interstate and runs in a southeast- erly direction between Vander and Stedman to Cedar Creek and into Robeson County west of N.C. 87. e Gardner farm in Wade, popula- tion 567, has been in the family for more than 70 years. Two generations of Gardners have raised grains, oats, barley, soybeans and more recently beef cattle on 960 acres. e Gardner family is among several defendants in a federal lawsuit involving the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. In some instances, property is being taken through emi- nent domain if purchase negotiations were not successful. ACP, LLC, which includes majority owners Duke Energy and Dominion Energy, filed several motions this month asking U.S. District Judge Terence Boyle to allow them to use eminent domain to seize portions of the defendants' properties. What distinguishes this case is that pipeline owners want to take the property without paying the landowners first. is is known as "quick take." Typically, in such an instance, the party doing the seizing must pay the landowner "just compensation" for the property. e Natural Gas Act of 1938, one of the main statutes govern- ing the project, contains no quick take provision. "is is going to be a big fight between the gas company lawyers, the defense lawyers and environmental groups," said property rights attorney Charles Lollar. Landowners often say they've been underpaid for their property's value. At public Atlantic Coast Pipeline forums, several property owners complained that they felt lowballed by land agents in the financial negotiations. e Cumberland County proper- ties in question range from less than a tenth of an acre to more than 5 acres. e land being acquired by ACP would be used as easements for underground pipeline construction. Without the easements, the pipeline's owners can't begin the project. Atlantic Coast Pipeline setbacks by JEFF THOMPSON NEWS In some instances, property is being taken through eminent domain if purchase negotia- tions were not successful. Go Online 484-6200 www.uandcomingweekly.com Flip our pages for news, views, art and entertainment! Call and ask one of our marketing representatives to help you grown your business.