Late last week, a federal appeals court vacated a permit allowing the Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline from West Virginia to North Carolina to cross national forests and the Appalachian Trail. The pipeline is one of a handful of projects designed to move natural gas out of Appalachia into markets in the southeastern United States that is plagued by permitting issues.

Construction on the $6 billion pipeline began earlier this year. The pipeline will originate in West Virginia, travelling through Virginia to arrive in eastern North Carolina. It is a joint venture of Dominion Energy Incorporated (NYSE) (Richmond, Virginia), Duke Energy Incorporated (NYSEUK) (Charlotte, North Carolina) and Southern Company Gas (Atlanta, Georgia), a unit of Southern Company (NYSE:SO) (Atlanta). Dominion plans for the pipeline to help supply gas to its recently completed Greensville County Power Station in Virginia. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina sections of the pipeline, as well as the Greensville County Power Station.

The overturned permit initially was granted by the U.S. Forest Service. In overturning the permit, the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit said the Forest Service had "abdicated its responsibility to preserve national forest resources" in issuing the permit. It is unclear what kind of setback the decision will cause, but Dominion said it would immediately appeal the court's decision. Dominion previously delayed the pipeline's startup date from late 2019 to mid-2020.

Another natural gas pipeline in the area also has faced trouble: EQM Midstream Partners LP's (NYSE:EQM) (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Mountain Valley Pipeline. The 303-mile pipeline would run from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia. The pipeline would carry up to 2 billion feet per day (Bcf/d) of natural gas, connecting with Williams Companies' (NYSE:WMB) (Tulsa, Oklahoma) Transcontinental gas pipeline system. In October, the same appeals court vacated a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers allowing the pipeline to cross streams and wetlands. For more information, see October 5, 2018, article - A Tale of Two Pipelines: Atlantic Sunrise Cleared for Takeoff, Mountain Valley Hit with New Court Action.

Last week, EQM issued guidance on the pipeline's schedule, saying the pipeline would be 70% complete by the end of this year. The company is targeting an in-service date of fourth-quarter 2019. Construction also began earlier this year, with Tetra Tech Incorporated (Boston, Massachusetts) acting as the primary environmental consultant. The project has an estimated total investment value of $4.6 billion. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the Virginia and West Virginia portions of the project.

Part of the supply of the for the Mountain Valley Pipeline could come from Equitrans Midstream Corporation's (NYSE:ETRN) (Pittsburgh) Hammerhead Pipeline, which would run from Pennsylvania to West Virginia. The pipeline would carry up to 1.2 Bcf/d. Construction is expected to begin soon, with completion in the second half of 2019. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the Pennsylvania and West Virginia portions of the pipeline.