Earthjustice is representing the Sierra Club, Damascus Citizens for Sustainability and the Lycoming County-based Coalition for Responsible Growth and Resource Conservation as proposed interveners in a proceeding before the Federal Regulatory Commission, which has been asked to expedite approval of a proposed pipeline that would cut through portions of northeastern Pennsylvania. The groups are calling on federal regulators to thoroughly review the cumulative environmental impacts of the project before any decision is made.

The 39-mile pipeline, known as the MARC I Hub Line Project, would be built and operated by the Central New York Oil and Gas Company. It would run through Bradford, Sullivan and Lycoming Counties in Pennsylvania, crossing high quality streams in the Endless Mountains, disturbing some 610 acres and leaving 238 acres permanently altered. The groups argue that the project would spur gas drilling in a previously undeveloped portion of the state, bringing with it threats to public health and the environment that have yet to be thoroughly analyzed.

If Earthjustice can persuade a court that a full environmental impact statement is necessary to approve the pipeline, it will be the first such study of Marcellus Shale impacts in Pennsylvania.