Court rules federal agency must revisit NEXUS pipeline approval

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will have to reexamine its rationale for approving a controversial natural gas pipeline that cuts across the state and into Michigan. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit ruled FERC failed to adequately justify its approval of the NEXUS Gas Transmission pipeline when the company has contracts with Canadian shippers. The 256-mile-long NEXUS Gas Transmission pipeline, which crosses through Oberlin, carries gas to markets in northern Ohio, southeastern Michigan and Ontario, Canada. It begins and ends in the United States, but two of the companies it is contracted with are Canadian companies serving customers in Canada. The city of Oberlin petitioned the court to take up the case last year, receiving the latest judgement Friday. Eminent domain, the act of taking private property with compensation for public use, was used to construct the pipeline. Oberlin's petition argued a private pipeline selling gas to foreign shippers did not qualify as a "public use." Oberlin's attorney, Carolyn Elefant, argued nearly a third of the pipeline's daily capacity is headed to Canada. FERC's attorney countered that most of the gas shipped through the pipeline will be used in the United States and some of what is sent to Canada could be sold back to the U.S. The court opinion notes the FERC did not consider if the public benefits of the pipeline outweigh its disadvantages, and did not explain why it was lawful to issue the certificate that allowed for the pipeline's construction as an interstate pipeline. The court rejected Oberlin's other arguments, including two arguments on the pipeline's safety. The court's decision did not overturn FERC's original approval of the pipeline — allowing NEXUS to continue to operate — but could impact similar projects going forward. The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.