Groups fighting Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline are suing the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality over its decision to certify that a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “blanket” permit for the project will adequately protect water quality in the state.
The suit, filed Monday by the Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition, Bold Alliance and Preserve Craig Inc., contends that the DEQ lacked authority to issue the certification and failed to follow procedural requirements for adoption of a regulation. The state agency, the suit claims, “acted arbitrarily and capriciously in finding that water quality protection requirements would be met without having conducted necessary analyses and without taking account of adverse evidence in the record.”
The corps’ Nationwide Permit 12, which authorizes discharges of dredged or fill material into waterways for utility line projects, including pipelines, requires certification from the state.
