After a request for a court order was quashed in federal court on Oct. 20, construction of the Surry-Skiffes Creek Connector high-voltage transmission line project is set to continue.
The National Parks Conservation Association’s first attempt to halt the electrical project across the James River failed after a judge denied a preliminary injunction, according to documents filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
A preliminary injunction is a temporary court order requiring a person, corporation, or organization to act or not to act in a specific way, according to the Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute’s database.
U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth denied the court order, indicating the National Parks Conservation Association could not prove that its interests would be “irreparably harmed” without an action of the court, according to U.S. District Court records.
Lamberth wrote in his opinion that the National Parks Conservation Association has “not established a likelihood of any irreparable harm and ‘failure to show any irreparable harm is grounds for refusing to issue a preliminary injunction.’”
The judge also wrote the “alleged injuries are not ‘of such imminence that there is a clear and present need for equitable relief to prevent irreparable harm.’”
The project includes the construction of 17 transmission towers as tall as 295 feet over the James River. The power lines will transmit 500 kilovolts of electricity from Surry County to James City County.
Dominion Energy has previously said the project will help prevent rolling blackouts on the Virginia Peninsula.
The Washington, D.C.-based organization — which works to protect and preserve national parks — filed suit on July 12 against the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the Secretary of the Army Robert Speer. The parks group began the lawsuit after the Army Corps approved the high voltage transmission line project in June.
The project has been under government consideration since its initial review by the Army Corps of Engineers in 2013.
The conservation group sought a preliminary injunction as part of the lawsuit, hoping to stop the construction of the Dominion Energy project. Dominion intervened in the case in late July, becoming a defendant along with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Secretary of the Army, according to court records.
Other conservation groups wrote amicus briefs in support of the injunction, including the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks, American Rivers, and the Sierra Club, as well as former National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis.
After Lamberth denied the injunction on Oct. 20, the National Parks Conservation Association says the group will continue its lawsuit despite the denial of the preliminary injunction.
“Our legal challenge against the Army Corps will continue, as the court considers the merits of NPCA’s claims that the Corps violated NEPA and the Clean Water Act in issuing the permit to Dominion,” said Alison Heis, a spokeswoman for the National Parks Conservation Association.
Without an injunction, Dominion can continue to work on the project as the lawsuit moves forward.
“We are pleased with the court’s decision today and stand committed to building this urgently needed, thoroughly studied transmission project as soon as possible,” Dominion spokeswoman Bonita Billingsley Harris said in a statement.
“Work is currently underway within the on-land right-of-way,” she added. “We expect to also begin river construction very soon.”
WYDaily archives were used in this story.
Related coverage:
- DomPower: Skiffes Creek necessary to avoid rolling blackouts or worse
- Parks group sues to halt power line project on James River
- Army Corps OKs Skiffes Creek project with conditions
- Dominion Files Site Plan for Skiffes Creek Switching Station
- Army Corps Determines Surry, Chickahominy Best Power Line Options
