DEQ Hearings Coming up
Please attend one, two or all of Department of Environmental Quality’s hearings and demand that the DEQ do a full public review of all erosion and sediment control plans for the ACP prior to any 401 Water Quality Certification. We want DEQ to put a hold on the process and reinitiate it only after the requested detailed information on Dominion’s exact and specific plans have been made public. Without those plans, the public cannot frame a fully informed response.
DEQ has posted on its website guidelines about what topics will be considered at the hearings and in written comments that are submitted. For those seeking guidance on major points to make in their testimony (3-minute limitation) or written submissions, we urge that comments be as personal as possible (e.g. how clean water is important to you and why the proposed pipeline would endanger that water). In addition, we commend to you the suggested talking pointsdeveloped by ABRA members Wild Virginia and the Sierra Club – Virginia Chapter.
For Next Steps, Walking the Line folks ask that people join them to support those testifying. They will bring musicians and sing their pipeline resistance anthem “Sow Em on the Mountain”. They will bring their Sacred Places Map. And they plan to bring 500 “This is Not a Hearing” gags and 500 “This is a robbery” gags. Will they bring you?
ACP hearings begin at 6. Walking the Line program begins at 5:15 and can be joined until 6.
- Monday, Aug. 7, 5:15 to 10 p.m. James Madison University, Festival Conference and Student Center, Grand Ballroom, 1301 Carrier Drive, Harrisonburg. Parking is in lots C11, C12, and D3.
- Thursday, Aug. 10, 5:15 to 10 p.m. Longwood University, Jarman Auditorium, 201 High St., Farmville. Parking is in Wheeler Lot, Crafts Lot, High Street Lot, Randolph Lot or other university-owned lots.
- Monday, Aug. 14, from 5:15 to 10 p.m. Southside Virginia Community College Center for Workforce Development, Christiana Campus, 109 Campus Drive, Alberta VA 23821.
In the News
Lots of interesting news stories in the last week. What have you missed? Click on the In the Newstab above for many other current stories or use the archives links in the dropdown menu for earlier stories.
- 8-3-17 WVTF. Pipeline Prospects: Can the Atlantic Coast Pipeline be Stopped?
- 8-2-17 C-ville. Impact study: Pipeline nears approval, opponents fire back.
- 8-2-17 News Leader. ‘Invasive, insulting’: Dealing with Dominion rankles some pipeline route landowners.
- 8-2-17 WVTF. Pipeline Prospects: Questioning the Need.
- 8-1-17 Washington Examiner. Senate workload for August doesn’t include Trump’s energy nominees.
- 8-1-17 WVTF. Pipeline Prospects: Ethics and Regulations.
- 7-31-17 Roanoke Times. Pipeline analysis dramatically underestimates forest impacts, state agencies report.
- 7-31-17 WVTF. Pipeline Proposal: Environmental Impact.
- 7-31-17 Sierra Magazine. The Appalachian Trail is the “Lousiest Place” to Put Two Pipelines.
Atlantic Coast Pipeline Critical Zone Mapping System
New from Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition!
The DPMC has published an interactive Critical Zone Mapping System (CZMS) in support of citizen efforts to overcome the continuing failure of the regulatory system.
The CZMS provides a framework for evaluation of the risk associated with construction of the ACP and the limitations of the proposed or available control measures. The CZMS includes user-selectable map layers that display a number of key factors that should be considered during project review and prior to project approval. Among these are layers that indicate slope steepness, soil erodibility, high-excavation areas, stream crossings, surficial karst, and existing dye traces in karst systems.
One of the more-critical map layers identifies those sections of the pipeline corridor and access road system that meet Dominion’s criteria for application of its so-called “Best in Class” program. These areas, where the existing ground slope is 30% or more for distances of 100 feet or more, present a high risk to downslope water resources due to erosion, slope destabilization, and runoff alteration.
Although Dominion has posted what it describes as detailed erosion and runoff control plans, the plans do not include “Best in Class” measures. With limited exceptions, the actual site-specific details for application of the “Best in Class” program have not been provided for regulatory agency and public review, and apparently they will not be provided until after project approval.
These high-risk “Best in Class” areas represent almost half the length of the proposed ACP pipeline corridor and access road system in the mountainous counties of Virginia and West Virginia.
Among the more-extreme of the “Best in Class” measures is the use of heavy steel wire mesh to hold steep mountainsides in place after pipeline construction. Click here for a larger version of this image.
For more information see: The ACP Critical Zone Mapping System
Pipeline Battle
An extensive article in Virginia Business reviews the three year battle over the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. It covers discussion over environmental impact, questions of pubic need, Dominion donations, water quality, Governor McAuliffe’s support of the ACP, and a variety of aspects of the casefor and against the ACP.
Read the full article here.
Lawsuit Filed Against FERC and MVP
On July 27, 2017, attorneys of the Virginia law firm Gentry Locke filed a Complaint in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, Roanoke Division, challenging the constitutionality of actions by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) and Mountain Valley Pipeline (“MVP”). A Motion for a Preliminary Injunction has been filed along with the Complaint. The Motion seeks assistance from the Court in preventing FERC from granting MVP the power of eminent domain, and seeks to prevent MVP from attempting to exercise any power of eminent domain in its quest to build a 303-mile-long, 42-inch natural gas pipeline that will traverse across Virginia and West Virginia.
This has obvious implications for the ACP!
Read the full press release from Gentry Lock here.
Will McAuliffe’s Administration Protect Virginia Waters Only “In Theory”?
The latest from Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition (DPMC):
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has indicated that applications for water quality certification of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) and the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) could be denied “in theory.” We are calling on Governor Terry McAuliffe to take action now to ensure that DEQ’s enforcement of the law is more than theoretical; that the certain damages these proposals would cause to hundreds of our streams and wetlands be honestly acknowledged by DEQ and prevented.
In a letter to the Governor dated July 25, 2017, the Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition (DPMC) described how the Governor’s top environmental officials have skewed the regulatory reviews of these major pipeline proposals. State records and public statements clearly show that DEQ has failed even to acknowledge its duty to deny water quality certifications for the ACP and MVP, despite the Clean Water Act’s mandate that DEQ do so.
Other states have faithfully fulfilled their Clean Water Act duties to reject proposals when pipeline builders failed to meet their burdens of proof and show that their projects could meet all water quality requirements. As DPMC’s letter asked the Governor: “Do Virginian’s deserve less protection than our fellow citizens? Will you accept DEQ’s proposals to forego its responsibilities where others have fully exercised their authorities to protect their citizens and environments?”
DEQ’s resistance to considering rejection of threats to water quality is not in line with actions it has taken on proposals by other parties. The Department has rejected permit applications for facilities such as wastewater discharges and held other construction projects to stringent stormwater control requirements. In stark contrast, the pipeline companies have gotten special deals. Certainly, other applicants for State approvals will be dismayed to know they’ve been treated differently than the politically-powerful sponsors of ACP and MVP.
For more information, see:
0 Comments