And it’s the uncertainty of what could happen to that easement that Mills says he’s nervous about. Now, Mills and other landowners face a different question: What’s next for the land that used to be theirs? In Doddridge County, the Mills’ property remains physically untouched, though contractors had already started clearing trees nearby when news of the pipeline’s cancellation broke.īut there’s still an orange banner in one tree and a wooden stake in the ground, constant reminders that this swath of property doesn’t belong to him anymore. But in July 2020, companies Dominion Energy and Duke Energy announced they were canceling the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Mills said the prospect of the pipeline buried near his home made him uneasy. Ultimately, the company ended up getting a 50-foot-wide permanent easement in the middle of the property. “If they didn’t have eminent domain I would have told them to go fly a kite,” Mills said. So Mills, like many, said he agreed to negotiate. Federal regulators gave ACP that power as part of their approval of the project. Mills didn’t want the pipeline on his property.īut ACP had the power - called eminent domain - to take it anyway. An offshoot from the larger pipeline was supposed to run near the side of the Mills’ house. Mills learned that his 290-acre property was in the path of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project, a natural gas pipeline planned to stretch hundreds of miles from West Virginia to North Carolina.
A few cows live on a hill behind his house. Now retired from decades with the West Virginia forestry division, Mills enjoys growing Christmas trees across from his front yard. When Jeff Mills moved to Doddridge County with his wife nearly 50 years ago, he wanted enough land to hunt and fish. Get stories like this delivered to your email inbox once a week sign up for the free newsletter at / newsletter.) (This story was originally published by Mountain State Spotlight. By Emily Allen | Mountain State Spotlight
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