NEXUS Pipeline still on hold
Federal court reviewing lawsuit to stop project
Paul Gierosky
MEDINA – Construction of the proposed NEXUS Pipeline remains uncertain as opponents fight the $2 billion project in federal court and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission remains incapable of granting the pipeline’s final approval.
About 60 property owners, including 10 from Medina County, filed a lawsuit in federal court May 12 seeking to stop construction of the NEXUS Pipeline which developers had hoped to complete this fall.
The suit filed in Akron at the U.S. District Court for Northern Ohio asks the court to enjoin the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from issuing a certificate for the NEXUS Pipeline and a declaration of legal rights between the plaintiffs and FERC.
That suit is progressing slowly but steadily through a review process, according to Paul Gierosky, one of the plaintiffs in the suit and a leader of one of the grassroots groups opposed to the pipeline. He is encouraged by the fact that his lawsuit hasn’t been dismissed.
“I think it’s a good sign that the judge didn’t rule against us immediately,” Gierosky said.
The court also set aside a motion by NEXUS attorneys to dismiss the lawsuit. According to Gierosky, a status hearing between attorneys for both sides and Magistrate Kathleen Burke resulted in an agreement that she would review only the motion to prevent FERC from issuing a certificate to proceed on the NEXUS project and not two motions to dismiss the case.
The NEXUS case is one of 45 currently being reviewed by Judge John Adams and he has sought help in reviewing it by issuing an order July 14 to refer the NEXUS case to Magistrate Kathleen Burke for a hearing, if necessary, a report and a recommendation.
“This could be a good thing because the magistrate may have more time to devote than the judge has or it could cause a problem if this delays a decision beyond when a quorum is reestablished at FERC,” Gierosky said.
FERC is made up of five commissioners, but only one is currently in place. At least three are needed for the quorum required to grant final approval to the NEXUS project and numerous others that are in various stages of development in the Eastern United States.
Gierosky said it is hard to say when that quorum will be established since dysfunction in Washington has prevented nominees for the vacancies from being approved by the U.S. Senate.
Gierosky is also part of a coalition of protest groups that has been lobbying senators to delay FERC nominations until hearings can be conducted on the FERC review process which Gierosky claims is badly flawed and unconstitutional.
Some of those flaws are among the complicated aspects of the lawsuit filed in federal court which Gierosky hopes the court will carefully consider before ruling.
Two key arguments made in the lawsuit involve the use of eminent domain and safety standards. Gierosky says FERC does not consider adequate safety setbacks in its review process. He also questions the constitutionality of allowing a foreign company which plans to export the natural gas it transports to use eminent domain in the United States to do so. One of the partners in NEXUS is the Canadian Company Enbridge Inc.
In August 2014, NEXUS proposed the 255-mile project that would carry natural gas from Columbiana County in eastern Ohio through Stark, Summit, Medina and Lorain counties, then to Michigan and into Canada for export sales from an energy hub.
About 60 property owners, including 10 from Medina County, filed a lawsuit in federal court May 12 seeking to stop construction of the NEXUS Pipeline which developers had hoped to complete this fall.
The suit filed in Akron at the U.S. District Court for Northern Ohio asks the court to enjoin the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from issuing a certificate for the NEXUS Pipeline and a declaration of legal rights between the plaintiffs and FERC.
That suit is progressing slowly but steadily through a review process, according to Paul Gierosky, one of the plaintiffs in the suit and a leader of one of the grassroots groups opposed to the pipeline. He is encouraged by the fact that his lawsuit hasn’t been dismissed.
“I think it’s a good sign that the judge didn’t rule against us immediately,” Gierosky said.
The court also set aside a motion by NEXUS attorneys to dismiss the lawsuit. According to Gierosky, a status hearing between attorneys for both sides and Magistrate Kathleen Burke resulted in an agreement that she would review only the motion to prevent FERC from issuing a certificate to proceed on the NEXUS project and not two motions to dismiss the case.
The NEXUS case is one of 45 currently being reviewed by Judge John Adams and he has sought help in reviewing it by issuing an order July 14 to refer the NEXUS case to Magistrate Kathleen Burke for a hearing, if necessary, a report and a recommendation.
“This could be a good thing because the magistrate may have more time to devote than the judge has or it could cause a problem if this delays a decision beyond when a quorum is reestablished at FERC,” Gierosky said.
FERC is made up of five commissioners, but only one is currently in place. At least three are needed for the quorum required to grant final approval to the NEXUS project and numerous others that are in various stages of development in the Eastern United States.
Gierosky said it is hard to say when that quorum will be established since dysfunction in Washington has prevented nominees for the vacancies from being approved by the U.S. Senate.
Gierosky is also part of a coalition of protest groups that has been lobbying senators to delay FERC nominations until hearings can be conducted on the FERC review process which Gierosky claims is badly flawed and unconstitutional.
Some of those flaws are among the complicated aspects of the lawsuit filed in federal court which Gierosky hopes the court will carefully consider before ruling.
Two key arguments made in the lawsuit involve the use of eminent domain and safety standards. Gierosky says FERC does not consider adequate safety setbacks in its review process. He also questions the constitutionality of allowing a foreign company which plans to export the natural gas it transports to use eminent domain in the United States to do so. One of the partners in NEXUS is the Canadian Company Enbridge Inc.
In August 2014, NEXUS proposed the 255-mile project that would carry natural gas from Columbiana County in eastern Ohio through Stark, Summit, Medina and Lorain counties, then to Michigan and into Canada for export sales from an energy hub.