Nuns build chapel on pipeline's route, judge says company can condemn the land for pipeline project
A federal judge ruled recently that the Williams Partners can condemn land owned by nuns at the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, just outside Columbia, but not before an outdoor chapel dedication ceremony tomorrow. Williams attorneys had wanted to seize the land before the dedication.
Following is the backstory of the company's plan to extend its natural gas pipeline through land owned by the nuns.
COLUMBIA, Pa. -- A group opposing a natural gas pipeline scheduled to go through land owned by some Pennsylvania nuns has built a prayer chapel on the proposed right of way.
Lancaster Against Pipelines and the sisters, The Adorers of the Blood of Christ, plan to dedicate the chapel at a prayer service on Sunday.
Williams Partners is the group building the pipeline across 183 miles of Pennsylvania. It has asked a Lancaster County judge for an emergency order to seize the land. A ruling on that is pending.
The company's spokesman says the chapel is a "blatant attempt to impede pipeline construction."
The nuns said in a news release that they "revere Earth as a sanctuary where all life is protected" and contend the pipeline violates their commitment to the environment.
-- The Associated Press

Comments