RICHMOND, Va. (CBS19 NEWS) -- The Virginia State Water Control Board has voted 4-3 to approve a water quality certification for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, but the certification is not immediately effective.
According to WHSV, the narrow approval is pending the completion of certain studies from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality on clean water standards.
The decision means the board finds there is "reasonable assurance" that water along the pipeline's route would not be contaminated during construction of the pipeline, which will stretch from West Virginia to North Carolina.
During the second day of hearings on the certification, many of the concerns that were brought up were about the impact of construction in areas of karst.
A study commissioned last year by environmental organizations like the Sierra Club of Virginia found it can be hazardous to build anything on karst, which is a landscape formed by the dissolving of bedrock.
Western parts of Virginia are considered karst landscapes.
Some of the issues brought up in the report include groundwater contamination, surface collapses and accelerated erosion.
However, Dominion Energy has said it will follow water protection requirements set by the DEQ to "provide reasonable assurance that water quality standards will be maintained."
In July, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released an environmental assessment of the pipeline project, which stated the most adverse environmental impact of the construction could be reduced to insignificant levels.
Then in October, FERC voted to approve the ACP project as well as the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline, which gave Dominion the authority to use eminent domain to acquire land it the company can't reach an agreement with a landowner regarding construction on the landowner's property.
According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the pipeline project has now filed eminent domain cases against 14 landowners in Augusta, Buckingham, Highland and Nottoway counties.
During Tuesday's hearing, anti-pipeline groups interrupted by shouting questions, which at one point caused a 20-minute recess.
This was the second day of hearings on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Last week, the Virginia State Water Control Board voted to certify the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
