New hearing for pipeline to cross Appalachian Trail has been rejected
On Monday a federal appeals court in Richmond, VA denied a request to reconsider a ruling throwing out a permit that would have allowed the Atlantic Coast Pipeline to cross Monongahela and George Washington national forests, including part of the Appalachian Trail. The request to hold a full-court hearing came from lead pipeline developer Dominion Energy and the U.S. Forest Service and was rejected by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In December, a three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit criticized the Forest Service, saying the agency lacked authority to approve the pipeline’s crossing of the trail and that in doing so it had “abdicated its responsibility to preserve national forest resources.”
Run like a future Olympian at Atlanta’s Road to Gold 8.2 mile race
This Saturday, March 2, the Atlanta Track Club is hosting the Road to Gold 8.2 mile race. The race will serve as a preview of the Olympic Marathon Trials course for February 2020, also taking place in Atlanta. The marathon trials course will consist of 3 loops of six miles with a final loop of 8.2 miles. The Road to Gold Race will cover both loops and mimic the final 8.2 miles of the Olympic Marathon Trials course. The race will host a number of Olympic hopefuls, offering them only one of two opportunities to run on the closed streets of the 2020 Olympic Team Trails. Olympic hopefuls from around the country will be entered into a separate division, which will begin just before the open race.
