Hunton & Williams LLP Helps Secure Summary Judgment for PPL Electric Utilities Corp., Public Service Electric & Gas Co. in $1.4B Power Line Project

WASHINGTON — September 12, 2013 — Hunton & Williams LLP successfully defended a challenge to permits issued by the National Park Service for a key link in the Susquehanna-Roseland transmission line between central Pennsylvania and central New Jersey. On August 30, 2013, the US District Court for the District of Columbia granted summary judgment in favor of the National Park Service, rejecting claims by the Sierra Club and nine other environmental groups that the National Park Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Park Service Organic Act, and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act in issuing the permits. (National Parks Conservation Association et al. v. SMR Jewell et al(1:12-cv-01690)).

The transmission line project is being built by PPL Electric Utilities Corporation and Public Service Electric and Gas Co. at the direction of the regional transmission operator to enhance the reliability of the regional electric grid serving 13 mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia. Represented by Hunton & Williams, the utility companies intervened in the case to defend the permits issued by the Park Service for a 4-mile segment of the line that passes through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area within the right-of-way for an existing transmission line that pre-dates the establishment of the park. The court’s summary judgment order also denied the plaintiffs' motion for a preliminary injunction, clearing the way for construction work to begin in the park on September 3.

The court upheld the Park Service's decision to issue permits to the companies against all of the environmental groups' claims. "The plaintiffs have not shown that NPS' decisions in this case were arbitrary and capricious," US District Judge Richard W. Roberts wrote. "The defendants have shown that the agency's decision is rationally based on the administrative record."

"Our legal team warded off the plaintiff’s last minute attempt to block construction," said Eric J. Murdock, environmental partner in the firm's Washington office. "Construction is now moving forward as planned." According to a statement from their counsel, the plaintiffs do not intend to appeal the district court's decision.

In addition to Murdock, the utility companies were represented by litigation partner Robert M. Rolfe, and environmental partner Andrew J. Turner, counsel Karma B. Brown, and associates Elizabeth L. Horner and Kerry L. McGrath.

Hunton & Williams LLP provides legal services to corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals, as well as to a broad array of other entities. Since our establishment more than a century ago, Hunton & Williams has grown to more than 800 lawyers serving clients in 100 countries from 19 offices around the world. Our practice has a strong industry focus on energy, financial services and life sciences, and our experience extends to practice areas including bankruptcy and creditors' rights, commercial litigation, corporate transactions and securities law, intellectual property, international and government relations, real estate, regulatory law, products liability, and privacy and cybersecurity.