The proposed NEXUS Gas Transmission pipeline cleared a major hurdle Wednesday as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission determined there are no major environmental issues that would keep it from being built, the Toledo Blade reported.
The decision, announced in FERC’s 541-page final environmental impact statement, all but assures construction will begin as planned in early 2017.
In its long-awaited report, FERC concluded the pipeline and its associated projects will “result in some adverse environmental impacts.” But the regulatory commission, which oversees interstate pipeline projects, said those impacts will “be reduced to acceptable levels with the implementation of NEXUS’s and Texas Eastern’s proposed mitigation measures and the additional measures recommended by staff in the final [environmental impact statement].”
While some residents have expressed support for the pipeline, which would run through parts of Summit, Stark, Wayne and Medina counties, it continues to draw vocal opposition from some landowners and grass-roots groups in the Akron area.