Williams Partners L.P. announced Nov. 8 that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has denied an emergency motion to stay the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's authorization of the company's Atlantic Sunrise pipeline project, allowing construction to immediately resume.

“We are pleased that the court has lifted the administrative stay of construction activities and denied the emergency motion for stay filed by the project opponents. We will promptly resume construction activities on this important pipeline project, which will leverage existing energy infrastructure to deliver economic growth and help millions of Americans gain access to affordable Pennsylvania-produced clean-burning natural gas,” said Micheal Dunn, Williams Partners' chief operating officer. “Thousands of workers in Pennsylvania will be back on the job tomorrow.”

Construction on the project commenced seven months ago after a nearly four-year, comprehensive federal and state regulatory review process. During peak construction periods, the project is anticipated to directly employ approximately 2,300 people in 10 Pennsylvania counties. In addition, the project could support an additional 6,000 jobs in related industries and generate up to $1.6 billion in economic activity, according to researchers at Pennsylvania State University.

The nearly $3 billion project, which is designed to increase natural gas deliveries by 1.7 billion cu. ft. per day, is expected to be placed into full service in mid-2018.

Additional information about the Atlantic Sunrise project can be found at www.williams.com/atlanticsunrise.