U.S. Forest Service Rejects Proposed Pipeline Route

The federal government is rejecting the proposed route of a natural gas pipeline through national forests in Virginia and West Virginia. 

The National Forest Service has told the builders of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline it must find alternatives to the proposed route of the 550-mile pipeline through the George Washington and Monongahela national forests in Virginia and West Virginia.

The Forest Service cited the pipeline’s current path through “highly sensitive resources” in both national forests. They include ecosystems for cow knob salamanders and West Virginia northern flying squirrels, as well as red spruce restoration areas.

Dominion Virginia Power is teaming up with Duke Energy and other partners to build the pipeline. It would deliver so-called fracked national gas from West Virginia to Virginia and North Carolina.