Three environmental groups are challenging in federal courtthe FERC approval of the giant 1.1-Bcf/d Southeast Market Pipelines natural gasproject, already under construction in Alabama, Georgia and Florida.
"In order to avert the worst impacts of climate change,it's essential that FERC does its job and fully considers climate impactsbefore approving any new gas pipelines like Sabal Trail," Sierra Clubmanaging attorney Eric Huber said in the statement.
On Sept. 23, the court ordered the groups to finish filingmotions, statement of issues and other initial documents by Nov. 7.
A spokeswoman for the Southeast Market Pipelines projectsaid the developers are confident the court will respect a thorough projectreview by federal and state agencies. Andrea Grover, Sabal Trail director ofstakeholder outreach, said in a Sept. 26 email that construction across theproject began on Aug. 19 with the goal of having its first phase in service byearly summer 2017.
The other components include the approximately $459.8million Hillabee expansion project on WilliamsPartners LP's Transco system and the approximately $537.3 millionFlorida Southeast Connection project of NextEra Energy's Florida SoutheastConnection LLC. Together, the projects will bring gas from Alabama throughGeorgia and deep into Florida to serve power generators and other customers.
In August, Sierra Club, Gulf Restoration Network and FlintRiverkeeper sued theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 11th Circuit over Clean Water Act permitsfor the project.