Concerned citizens in North Carolina are currently hiking 180 miles along the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline route from Whitakers, North Carolina, on the Virginia border, to Pembroke, North Carolina.
The anti-pipeline hike is attracting everyone from senior citizens to college students on spring break. The hikers hope the protest will inspire others to take a stand against the building of the pipeline, which will cross the Appalachian Trail and other cherished public lands, threaten drinking water, and pollute the surrounding environments.
They are also concerned about the use of eminent domain to seize rights-of-way through private lands and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) lax approval process. Activists say that the environmental assessment issued in late December is missing crucial information, such as an inaccurate description of the pipeline’s environmental impact and violates federal law.
Several groups have filed a legal motion requesting for the environmental impact assessment to be updated or replaced. Read more here and follow the progress of the march here.
