With Help Of MSCI Coalition Partner, State Energy Projects Move Forward

The Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) supports an “all of the above” energy strategy that protects our energy security by expanding domestic energy production to efficiently and affordably deliver power to our nation’s industrial metals industry. MSCI works with the Energy Equipment and Infrastructure Alliance (EEIA) to encourage full development of shale resources, while protecting the environment, health and safety.

According to EEIA, in March four important projects moved forward. They are:

• The Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a $5 billion natural gas pipeline from the Marcellus/Utica fields through West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. Earlier this month, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission voted 7-0 to approve the project and to ensure it does not unduly disturb the fish and mollusk habitats of over 50 streams, rivers, and wetlands. EEIA helped turn out supporters from the construction industry to the hearing.
• Minnesota Public Utilities Commission ruled that the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) developed for Enbridge’s Line 3 Replacement Project is adequate, a key step along the path to the project's final permitting. The EIS confirmed that replacing Line 3 is the superior outcome versus continued operation of the existing Line 3 or alternative transport by truck or rail. The EIS also confirmed that Enbridge's preferred route is the best solution with respect to Tribal and environmental concerns. The PUC finding keeps the approval process on schedule for the next milestones—approval of the route permit and the finding of public convenience and necessity—before construction can begin.
• A federal appeals court has denied New York State’s petition to review a federal decision that effectively approved a new natural gas pipeline feeding a gas-fired power plant in Orange County. The plant is currently burning diesel fuel. US Appeals Court Overturns Injunction Against Bayou Bridge Pipeline
• A federal appeals court also has overturned a lower court injunction that stopped work on the Bayou Bridge pipeline project, which slated to carry 480,000 bpd of crude from Texas to St James, La.