Williams Partners seeks remaining state permits for Pennsylvania natural gas pipeline

Williams Partners has received approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for its Atlantic Sunrise natural gas pipeline project and is now seeking the necessary remaining state permits.

Construction on a portion of the nearly $3 billion project called the Central Penn Line is targeted to begin
in the 3rd Quarter of 2017. This would allow the full capacity of the project to be online by mid-2018.

In 2015, Pennsylvania State University researchers projected that Atlantic Sunrise would directly and indirectly support approximately 8,000 jobs in 10 Pennsylvania counties during its construction, resulting
in an estimated $1.6 billion economic impact in the project area.

A petition signed by more than 3,000 supporters was recently delivered to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf requesting that he quickly approve the pipeline.

“Williams’ Atlantic Sunrise project addresses this critical need, allowing us to capitalize on this once-in-a-generation opportunity,” Pennsylvania Chamber of Business & Industry President Gene Barr said. “While the components are there for sustainable economic growth and prosperity, the lack of energy infrastructure to move this clean-burning, low-cost commodity to markets hinders immediate job growth and economic opportunity in our state. The time to build this project is now.”

Opponents of the project have said they plan to challenge the project through legal challenges, civil disobedience and a live-in protest citing property owner rights, indigenous sites and the environment.

“The point isn’t which of our neighbors we want to have this pipeline. It’s just: we don’t want your pipeline,” Clatterbuck, a Martic Township resident and protestor, told Pennlive, a central Pennsylvania news site. “We’re committed to nonviolent civil disobedience to stop this construction if it comes to that.”