CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC signed a construction contract Wednesday with Spring Ridge Constructors LLC to build a proposed 600-mile natural gas transmission pipeline.
The project is expected to create more than 17,000 jobs in West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina, $2.7 billion in total economic activity and an average of $4.2 million in annual tax revenue for cities and counties within the project area.
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline would begin in Harrison County, run southeast through Virginia, with a lateral extension to Chesapeake, Virginia, and then south through eastern North Carolina to Robeson County.
Spring Ridge Constructors, or SRC, was chosen as the most qualified contractor for the project after a competitive bidding process. The four SRC companies are Price Gregory International Inc., U.S. Pipeline Inc., SMPC LLC and Rockford Corp.
The companies account for a significant portion of large-diameter natural gas pipeline construction in the U.S.
If approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, construction of the pipeline would begin in the fall of 2017.
Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC is composed of four U.S. energy companies: Dominion, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and Southern Gas Company.
Aaron Ruby, a spokesman for Dominion, said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission just released its notice of schedule, which establishes the timeline for the remainder of the environmental review process.
Ruby said the next key step will be for that agency to produce the first draft of its environmental impact statement, a document that will outline all the potential ecological impacts of the project, as well as outline all the measures the company will be required to take in order to avoid or minimize those impacts.
Tamara Young-Allen, spokeswoman for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said the pipeline proposal is still being reviewed and that the first draft of the environmental impact statement will be released in December, followed by a period of public comment.
Typically, Young-Allen said, that period lasts for around 45 days, but some have gone longer. Adjustments and changes to the pipeline proposal will be made as needed following the public comments, and the final statement will be released in June 2017.
Following that, all the other federal agencies that the FERC is coordinating with will have a 90-day deadline to complete their environmental reviews of the project. That period will end in September 2017, and construction would begin soon after.
Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC has worked closely with agencies, landowners and communities that will be impacted by the pipeline to address their concerns and get feedback on the project, according to Ruby.
In fact, Ruby said there have been over 300 route adjustments made over the last year to avoid environmentally sensitive areas, address specific landowner requests and incorporate agency feedback.
“At this point, based on all of the consultations that we’ve done, the route is essentially complete,” Ruby said. “We don’t anticipate any major route adjustments that would affect the timeline of the project.”
