Advocacy groups to ask State Supreme court to decide jurisdiction in Tucker gas plant permit appeals
Residents and advocacy groups are challenging an air quality permit for a data center and natural gas complex in Tucker County, West Virginia. They will ask the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals to decide jurisdiction for their permit appeals after the Intermediate Court of Appeals dismissed their challenges.
Residents and advocacy groups in Tucker County, West Virginia, are legally challenging an air quality permit granted last year for the construction of a large data center and natural gas complex. The permit was issued to Fundamental Data.
Initially, the state's Intermediate Court of Appeals dismissed these challenges due to concerns over proper judicial jurisdiction. Both Fundamental Data and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the issuing authority, had contended that the state Supreme Court of Appeals was the appropriate court to hear such appeals, a stance that the Intermediate Court ultimately endorsed.
As a result of this jurisdictional dismissal, the challenging residents and advocacy groups are now preparing to petition the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals to definitively determine which judicial division should preside over the merits of their appeal.