A federal appeals court will hear arguments Dec. 10 over the future of a proposed pipeline supplying the planned Cumberland Gas Plant in Stewart County.
The 32-mile pipeline, which would cut through parts of Dickson, Houston and Stewart counties, is needed to supply methane gas to Tennessee Valley Authority’s Cumberland Gas Plant as TVA replaces former coal-burning power plants with methane gas power plants.
The case, brought by environmental groups, brings legal scrutiny to the environmental impact of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s multibillion-dollar pivot from coal to gas.
(READ MORE: TVA pledges cleaner power future but critics blast plans to build more gas plants)
Earlier this month in a 2-1 decision, a panel of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily froze two permits issued to Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. to begin construction of the pipeline – which would cross 149 streams, creeks and wetlands – until the court can consider arguments about the environmental impact of pipeline construction.