Catholic Order Sues To Force Rerouting of Pipeline

A religious Order of Catholic women last week filed suit in a Pennsylvania federal district court contending that a decision of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The complaint (full text) in Adorers of the Blood of Christ v. Federal Energy Regulator Commission, (ED PA, filed 7/14/2017), contends that FERC's approval of the Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline route running through the religious Order's property, and giving Transcontinental Pipeline Company the power to take the land by eminent domain, substantially burdens the Order's religious belief that it must protect and preserve the land it owns. The suit contends that because FERC could approve an alternative route that goes around the property owned by the Catholic Order, it has not used the least restrictive means to achieve its goal. Adorers announced the lawsuit in a blog post.