Kinder Morgan Tennessee Pipeline Permit Upheld by Sixth Circuit

A Kinder Morgan pipeline in Tennessee was lawfully approved by the state’s environmental agency, a federal appeals court ruled Friday, finding that the regulator examined all the proper evidence and installed project monitoring methods.

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit 2-1 denied environmental groups’ bid to block the permits the state issued to Kinder Morgan subsidiary Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. for the proposed Cumberland Pipeline. The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation adequately considered route alternatives away from over 100 bodies of water, contrary to what the groups asserted, the court said.

“The record is clear that ...