A Federal Court has issued a 90-day stay in an attempt by Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC to acquire by eminent domain rights to an 11-acre property in Nash County, NC, citing as a major reason the fact that there are legal challenges to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project pending in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that could result in a re-examination of the project. In its stay order in the case of Atlantic Coast Pipeline v. Winstead, the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the Eastern District of North Carolina stated:
. . there are considerable challenges to plaintiff’s pipeline project ongoing in the court of appeals, and plaintiff has not sufficiently rebutted Winstead’s argument that, although the current pipeline challenges do not concern the pipeline route in North Carolina, the outcome of one or more of the challenges could cause or require the currently permitted pipeline route to be reexamined, potentially obviating any need to secure an easement on Winstead’s property. In light of all of these circumstances, the Court in its discretion finds that the factors considered tip in favor of granting a temporary stay of these proceedings.