Hearing Set For Monday in New Pipeline Suit

By Walter F. Roche Jr.

A new suit aimed at blocking a pipeline to the Nolichucky River has been set for 1 p.m. Monday before Chancery Judge Claudia Bonnyman in Nashville.
The case was assigned to Bonnyman earlier this week after Chancellor Russell Perkins recused himself from a related suit citing his friendship with the attorney representing the Tennessee Deparment of Transportation.
The new suit parallels another filed in Nashville challenging the authority of TDOT to issue a permit to build the 10 mile double barreled pipeline from the US Nitrogen plant to the Nolichucky River.
The latest challenge focuses on charges that the pipeline is intruding on property owned by the Renner family and Don Bible.
US Nitrogen has repeatedly denied that the pipeline is being built on private property.
Perkins abrupt recusal came as a surprise since he had been presiding over the parallel suit for several weeks. Both suits include TDOT as a defendant.
A hearing also is expected in yet another legal challenge pending in Greene County Chancery Court.
The pipeline, which is nearing completion, is expected to bring over 1 million gallons of water a day to US Nitrogen's new ammonium nitrate manufacturing facility.
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