Delaware Riverkeeper Network files suit against Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, claiming unconstitutional bias in pipeline approvals Watch video
The federal commission in charge of overseeing new interstate pipelines is a "corrupt, rogue" agency and its processes violate the U.S. Constitution, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by environmentalists on Thursday.
The Delaware Riverkeeper Network filed the suit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in U.S. District Court, charging that the commission's financing structure precludes it from an open, unbiased hearing of interstate pipeline applications.
The commission, which has final say over which pipelines get built and where, gets its entire operational budget from fees it charges companies applying to build pipelines, the lawsuit says.
As a result, FERC has not denied a gas pipeline application in 30 years, according to the suit.
"Because FERC gets its funding from the big companies it is supposed to be monitoring, it has become, perhaps inevitably, a corrupt, rogue agency," Maya van Rossum, leader of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, said in a release. "That's why FERC has approved 100 percent of pipeline projects -- literally every single one of the -- that it has considered since 1986."
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The commission is biased in favor of pipeline companies because of its financial structure and denies the 5th Amendment right to due process to the Riverkeeper Network and other environmental groups fighting pipeline construction, the suit says.
The suit seeks a declaration that the commission's pipeline approval process is biased and deprives the Riverkeeper Network and other environmental groups fighting pipeline construction of due process. It also seeks to declare the commission's funding structure and its ability to grant the power of eminent domain unconstitutional, according to the suit.
Mary O'Driscoll, spokeswoman for commission, said the agency does not comment on lawsuits.
Keith Brown may be reached at kbrown@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBrownTrenton. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.