The 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the more than $6 billion natural gas project led by Dominion Energy, won approval to begin full construction in North Carolina today. However, FERC has allowed the pipeline, which will run from West Virginia through much of central Virginia and the eastern third of North Carolina to plow ahead in certain areas where it already has state approvals. This afternoon, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted a notice to proceed to full construction for portions of the route in North Carolina. Cheryl LaFleur, a FERC commissioner, concluded that neither the ACP, nor the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which will run into southwest Virginia and potentially also into North Carolina, was in the public interest. The project still lacks an effective water quality certification and approvals related to erosion, sediment and stormwater controls from Virginia.