Federal commission approves expansion of Northwest pipeline over senators’ objections

The federal commission responsible for energy permitting Thursday morning approved an expansion of a natural gas pipeline in the Pacific Northwest, over the objections of Washington state and Oregon officials.

In its Thursday meeting, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) voted to proceed with the expansion of TC Energy’s Gas Transmission Northwest pipeline, which carries natural gas through Idaho, Washington and Oregon. A FERC spokesperson confirmed to The Hill that two members of the five-member commission, Trump appointees James Danly and Allison Clements, concurred in part and dissented in part with separate statements.

Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) had urged FERC against approving the expansion Wednesday. Merkley renewed his objections Thursday afternoon following the approval.

“According to FERC’s own analysis the expanded pipeline will cause $8.8 billion in damages, and contribute 1.9 million metric tons of carbon per year in pollution to the Pacific Northwest. That is the equivalent to adding 644,000 gasoline powered cars to the road each year,” Merkley said in a statement. “And of course those numbers are misleadingly low because FERC systematically minimizes the climate chaos effects of fossil gas projects.”

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek (D) and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) have urged against the approval as well.

The approval has also been long opposed by environmentalist organizations in the region, who have pointed to earlier failures by TC Energy-owned pipelines, including a July incident in which a segment of one such pipeline exploded in rural Virginia near Interstate 81.

The organization Columbia Riverkeeper vowed Thursday to challenge the decision.

“The Commission’s decision violates the public interest and common sense, and we will file a petition for rehearing challenging this project. Since the analysis for this project was published, two major TC Energy pipelines have failed, causing safety hazards and spilling fossil fuel,” Audrey Leonard, staff attorney for Columbia Riverkeeper, said in a statement. “If this were to happen in dry, rural, fire-prone lands or in the residential areas where TC Energy’s GTN pipeline is located, it would be catastrophic.”