With Support from Buchanan, Williams Secures DEP Permit Wins for Atlantic Sunrise Project

A collaborative team of Buchanan energy attorneys and government relations professionals guided Williams Partners L.P. to successfully gain 15 key permits from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and license agreements with the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline project. The project is a $3 billion expansion of the existing Transco natural gas pipeline. The state permits and agreements pave the way for the company to begin work on the project with construction beginning this fall.

The pipeline spans 190 miles of new pipeline in 10 counties and will transport natural gas from northeast Pennsylvania to mid-Atlantic and southern states. The project’s expansion is expected to substantially increase gas transportation capacity by 50 percent, generating $1.6 billion. It is expected to create 8,000 jobs and have a positive ripple effect on the economy of the surrounding community.

The team included Energy shareholders Brian Clark, Shawn Gallagher and Alan Seltzer, Bob Shuster, State and Federal Government Relations shareholder, Eric Battisti, Government Relations principal, and Kathleen Ryan, staff attorney, and Brian Wauhop, associate. Over the course of three years, the Buchanan team advised Williams on state environmental permitting, local land use and state regulatory matters, as well as state government affairs issues and local community outreach.

The permits included ten Water Obstruction and Encroachment permits for ten Pennsylvania counties: Susquehanna, Luzerne, Schuylkill, Wyoming, Columbia, Northumberland, Lancaster, Lycoming, Clinton and Lebanon; three Erosion and Sediment Control permits; two air permits and two right-of-way agreements. The Buchanan team worked closely with the Williams project team to provide sound counsel on a myriad of regulatory and policy issues that directly affected the timely approval of the project.