The US EPA has essentially no comments on the dangerous Enbridge/ETNG Ridgeline Expansion 122-mile proposed pipeline to Kingston. SACE has significant concerns about the safety of this pipeline project.

Today, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Region 4 filed their comments on the Enbridge/East Tennessee Natural Gas Pipeline Ridgeline Expansion Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). They filed these “comments” after requesting an ominous two week extension “pending anticipated transitions in political leadership in Region 4.”

The proposed 122-mile pipeline would cross eight counties in order to supply fossil gas to the 1,450 MW Kingston fossil gas plant in Roane County.

SACE has significant concerns about the safety of this pipeline project, including the lack of safety regulations to address the increasing likelihood of landslides. We commented on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and then followed up with additional concerns stemming from comments made by the pipeline industry itself.

The EPA Region 4 had found significant deficiencies with the DEIS for the TVA Kingston fossil gas plant almost a year ago.

But the EPA’s final word on this dangerous pipeline project is: nothing.

In its 3-page comment letter, the EPA Region 4 asks for one minor change in the characterization of jurisdiction of air pollution regulations, and recommends that public communications be translated into Spanish. No mention of safety, environmental harms, or public health harms.

Contrast this to the EPA’s response to the environmental review of a different new gas pipeline to serve a different new TVA gas power plant: the Cumberland pipeline and plant in middle Tennessee. In August of 2023 the EPA filed comments on the FEIS of the Cumberland pipeline stating that “the EPA has identified deficiencies in the final analysis that remain and should be addressed in future EISs.” The 2023 comment letter goes on with specific recommendations on the characterization of greenhouse gas emissions, measures to mitigate carbon emissions, and even the potential for carbon lock-in.

So it appears that the lights are indeed out at US EPA Region 4.