Feds release final environmental statement on pipeline

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued a final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for the proposed Ridgeline Expansion Project, saying that construction would result only in limited environmental impacts.

The proposed pipeline would run across parts of Putnam, Jackson and Overton counties. FERC said the project should not have many lasting impacts in the construction zone.

"Most adverse environmental impacts would be temporary or short-term during construction, but some long-term and permanent environmental impacts would occur on some forested lands, including forested wetlands," FERC said in a news release Dec. 20.

In 2021, East Tennessee Natural Gas proposed the expansion of an existing pipeline through just over 122 miles of land from Trousdale County to Roane County in support of the Tennessee Valley Authority's plan to convert the Kingston Fossil Plant into a natural gas-fired plant. Multi-national infrastructure company Enbridge would build and operate the pipeline if FERC gives final approval for the project.

FERC said it made its decision based on a review of data provided by East Tennessee Natural Gas, along with environmental information requests, scoping, literature research, consideration of alternatives and contact with other federal, state and local agencies and other stakeholders.

"We conclude that impacts would be less than significant with implementation of East Tennessee's proposed avoidance, minimization and mitigation measures as well as the environmental conditions we recommend the Commission include in any Project authorization it may issue to East Tennessee," FERC said.

FERC said the purpose of the pipeline would be to provide approximately 300,000 dekatherms per day of "new firm natural gas transportation capacity" and 95,000 dekatherms of "customized delivery service" from multiple providers to the Kingston facility.

On the same day as the FERC decision was announced, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy released a statement by its Senior Decarbonization Manager Shelly Robbins criticizing the FEIS. She said the commission's decisions were based on "TVA's compromised and flawed Record of Decision" for the proposed Kingston gas-fired plant.

"We are disappointed that FERC did not take our concerns about both the need for the project and its significant environmental risks seriously," she said. "SACE filed comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and then followed up with additional concerns about the lack of safety regulations that address the increasing likelihood of landslides."

Robbins highlighted the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in September, which, according to the United States Geological Survey, caused more than 2,000 landslides in East Tennessee and western North Carolina.

"Similar climate change-fueled rain events could happen anywhere in the Tennessee Valley and anywhere along the pipeline route through Trousdale, Smith, Jackson, Putnam, Overton, Fentress, Morgan and Roane counties," she said.

Robbins said that other pipeline projects in the region have experience challenges with construction.

"The Mountain Valley Pipeline, has been fraught with construction and runoff violations in West Virginia and Virginia," she said. "The Mountain Valley Pipeline demonstrates clearly that the risks associated with building large diameter, high pressure pipelines in this type of terrain are impossible to mitigate. Further, Enbridge's safety record does not inspire confidence that they will construct and operate the proposed pipeline to the highest standards."

In October, a federal court halted construction of the 32-mile Cumberland Pipeline which is projected to supply natural gas for a new TVA gas-fired plant in Cumberland City. According to the Southern Environmental Law Center, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a stay on two permits required for the pipeline's construction just before it began.

Two members on the three-judge panel said the construction could cause "irreparable harm" if construction was to move forward. The stay, however, is only a temporary measure for the court to further investigate and offer a final decision.

FERC still has to give final approval for the project, which is expected to begin in the fall. Construction is estimated to take one year. TVA is currently in the midst of a $9 billion initiative to retire its coal-fired plants with what it calls "cleaner" options.