In its Feb. 24 hearing of oral arguments in a key pipeline siting dispute, the U.S. Supreme Court signaled that it could reverse a lower court's suspension of a permit for the $7.8-billion Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline, which could restart its stalled construction, based on questions and comments from conservative justices.
The court agreed to take up two consolidated cases to decide whether the U.S. Forest Service has the authority to grant a special purpose right-of-way for the $7.8-billion, 600-mile pipeline to cross beneath the Appalachian Trail on national forest land. The two cases involve decisions by the federal appeals court in Richmond, Va.