Though President Trump has nominated two commissioners, a political battle looms. Until they're confirmed, FERC in unable to do much of anything; $50 billion in infrastructure projects around the U.S. hangs in limbo.
With that timeline playing out, Ohio homeowners banded together in hops of a federal judge ordering FERC to "overturn or vacate" the Nexus environmental impact statement and block FERC wholesale from issuing any certificate for the pipeline. At its heart, the lawsuit insists that Nexus' function is in violation of the Taking Clause of the Fifth Amendment, because Nexus would exist solely as an export pipeline. American natural gas would be shipped up to the Dawn hub in Ontario for eventual distribution; it serves no public benefit to Ohio or Michigan residents and energy consumers.
The Nexus project has also come up against homeowners' private property rights throughout the entire easement-gathering process. Pipeline construction would completely eliminate certain uses for homeowners' land. And as we've seen with the recently permitted Rover pipeline, spills are a reality — to say nothing of the non-zero chance of an explosion near someone's home or a within wetlands harboring wildlife.
“This Complaint has been a long time in development. Our every experience in dealing with FERC and Nexus has been documented and will be brought to bear in this case.” Paul Gierosky, co-founder of CoRN, said in a public statement.
Read the full complaint here.
Nexus pipeline lawsuit by sandyatscene on Scribd
