On Thursday March 1, 2018, Judge Moon, of the US Western District of Virginia Federal Court in Lynchburg, granted ‘immediate access’ for tree-felling on 16 of the 27 Virginia properties for which Dominion requested access. Notice issues, meaning parties were not served the lawsuits or did not have adequate time to respond, prevented Moon from ruling on the 11 remaining properties, but he expects “proper notice to be achieved” in the next two weeks.

None of the landowners have signed easement agreements, and just compensation for their land must still be decided in court.

Moon wrote, “These harms, and the harms that the unrepresented Landowners will face, are real. … The Landowners’ harms must be balanced with the equally real harms that ACP will face if its construction is delayed. I find the balance of the equities tips in ACP’s favor.'”

“We will be responsible stewards of their land, and we’ll continue working with them to minimize impacts on their property and daily lives”, said Dominion’s Aaron Ruby. Why are we not reassured by Mr. Ruby’s statement?

Read the Lynchburg News & Advance press coverage here.