The last two days saw two hearings about different Dominion Energy gas infrastructure projects in Southern Maryland. Tuesday night, there was a zoning permit for a compressor station Dominion wants to build near Accokeek, and Wednesday, there was a hearing to change Dominion’s largest state-level permit for its export terminal being built at Cove Point in a way that would allow more pollution into the surrounding community.
Dominion representatives left both hearings with grumpy faces.
The Tuesday night hearing was in front of the Charles County Appeals Board, which is deciding whether to issue the special exemption Dominion needs to build a compressor station in an area otherwise set aside for conservation near Accokeek, right near the line between Charles and Prince George’s Counties. This was the fourth of five hearings on the matter, and this one was devoted entirely to hearing public comment.
Dominion and the unions it typically works with kept up their practice of requiring union members to come from all over the area to create an image of public support for Dominion’s side. This is often done by fining the workers if they don’t show up.
Perhaps two hundred workers crowded the parking lot outside the hearing and eventually the hearing room. Most were dressed in their work gear, many having recently gotten off a shift at the export terminal in Cove Point.
A string of about 10 pro-Dominion speakers opened up the public testimony. The combination of every speaker at first speaking in favor of the proposed compressor station (many saying odd things like it would cut down on crime and homelessness — in a forested area) with the overwhelming numbers of workers brought in to create a pro-Dominion atmosphere felt disheartening.
About 30 minutes into testimony, the Appeals Board ordered a short recess, and everything changed.
Nearly all of the workers left, leaving behind a handful of Dominion representatives, many people who would be impacted by this compressor station, and a lot of people who opposed the compressor station and were there because they cared, not for financial reasons (unlike Dominion’s “supporters”). Very quickly, the speakers pivoted, arguing against this zoning exemption — and it remained that way the rest of the night.
The change was amazing, going from being suffocatingly pro-Dominion for the first short while to inescapably anti-Dominion for the rest of the hearing.
We Are Cove Point – 11.15.2017
Posted by: Nelson Bailey
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