After an Invalid Permit Halted Construction on MVP, Coalition Seeks the Same on ACP

RICHMOND, VA — Today, the coalition of clean water advocates that forced a halt of stream crossing construction activities for the Mountain Valley Pipeline in West Virginia has formally requested the same for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The coalition took two actions today. First, it filed a petition for review with the Fourth Circuit. Second, it formally asked the United States Army Corps of Engineers to stay the stream construction permit during litigation. If the Corps refuses to stay the permit, the coalition will ask the Court to do so.
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline stream crossing permit suffers from the same defects as the Mountain Valley Pipeline permit that the Fourth Circuit stayed last week. Specifically, Atlantic Coast’s planned crossing of the Greenbrier River–the longest remaining free-flowing river in the East–will take longer to complete than allowed by law.
The coalition includes the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, Appalachian Voices, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and the Sierra Club, and is represented by Appalachian Mountain Advocates.
In response, Sierra Club Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign Director Kelly Martin released the following statement:
“We know we can’t trust the polluting corporations behind these fracked gas pipelines to build them without doing serious damage to our water and communities. Construction should be immediately halted on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, just like it was on the Mountain Valley Pipeline.”
Cindy Rank of the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy said:
“The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy is concerned about the overall impacts of mucking about in streams whatever the activity – including by the gas industry. The value of the hundreds of miles of streams being crossed and disturbed by the ACP gas pipeline demand that more specific evaluation be given to each and every crossing than the general considerations provided by nationwide permits.”
Anne Havemann, General Counsel for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said:
“Dominion Energy, the main company behind the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, has cut corners and pushed regulators to approve its pipeline without proper reviews. With irreplaceable water resources at stake, we think it’s our patriotic duty this Fourth of July to ask the court to require a full review of the pipeline’s impacts.”
Peter Anderson, Virginia Program Manager for Appalachian Voices said:
“Add this to the pile of evidence that a general permit is inappropriate for a project the size and scope of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Impacted communities along the pipeline’s proposed path deserve an immediate halt to construction activities while the court determines the legality of the developers’ application. Considering the magnitude of impacts to water resources, citizens demand not only a project-specific permit, but construction plans that can actually comply with the permit’s conditions as well.”
Angie Rosser, Executive Director for West Virginia Rivers Coalition said:
“Once again, our watchdogging reveals short-cuts that undermine West Virginians’ interests in water protections, and that those short-cuts come back to haunt these mega-pipelines. We’re confident the court will agree that this flawed permit cannot stand and that construction must be put on hold.”

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Photo via Appalachians Against Pipelines

Group calls on Virginia leaders to formally join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to cut carbon and fund climate adaptation

Call comes after new research shows sea level rise poses salient near-term threat to Virginia communities

 
VIRGINIA BEACH, VA –  Faith leaders, legislators, and Virginia residents came together today to call on Virginia leaders to protect Hampton Roads from sea level rise by formally joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).
During what was called the “Environmental Justice and Stewardship Prayer Breakfast” at Lynnhaven Colony Congregational Church in Virginia Beach, leaders of congregations from across Hampton Roads discussed the connection between faith and environmental justice, as well as ways to take action to protect the coast. Participants aimed to address the local challenges of climate change through a moral, prophetic, and legislative lens.
“Mother Nature is warning the city of Virginia Beach with more frequent tidewater flooding and drowning rainfalls,” said William Jennings, Chairman of the Flood Committee at the Princess Anne Plaza Civic League. “What never before flooded now floods. We are calling on our leaders to protect ALL residents from flooding before it is too late.”
The prayer breakfast comes shortly after the recent news that sea level rise from Antarctic ice melt has tripled over the past five years. Antarctic ice melt is one of the biggest contributors to sea level rise, which is expected to get much worse in the coming decades.
Additionally, a new report  from the Union of Concerned Scientists found that 115,000 homes in Virginia will be at risk of chronic inundation from flooding by 2100. The same study found that if  nations adhere to the primary goal of the Paris Agreement—capping warming to below 2 degrees Celsius — 90 percent of this chronic inundation would be avoided.
Virginia Delegate Cheryl Turpin (D-85), who was not able to attend the prayer breakfast, stated in support: “The Bible says in Genesis 1:26, ‘Then God said, Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ As an elected official, I feel a moral obligation to protect our environment. That’s why I sponsored legislation that would direct Virginia to collect revenue from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative program (RGGI) and invest it in a just transition from fossil fuels. We must do everything we can to address the issue of flooding on our coastlines, as well as the pollution that is impacting our environment. We must act now to help protect our children’s and grandchildren’s future.” ​
“I used to live in South Norfolk, but I’ve had to move to escape the flooding,” said Stephanie Sterner, an activist and former Virginia Beach resident. “I missed work due to the constant rain. It was too dangerous to drive. The water would overfill the surrounding neighborhood sewers, which made my daughter sick. Several children in the neighborhood consistently missed school, putting them behind the rest of the city kids — some even had to repeat a grade. The economic and academic consequences of this constant flooding is seriously hurting communities. We need to do something about this now!”
The group argued that Virginia needs a massive, coordinated investment in new and resilient infrastructure, living shorelines, emergency planning, and strategic retreat from vulnerable areas to keep people safe and dry.
“Pope Francis has called on leaders to address climate change because he knows it is the moral thing to do, and I agree,” said Virginia State Senator Lynwood Lewis (D-6), who was also unable to attend the prayer breakfast. “We must do what is in our power to address climate change and its effects, including finding ways to combat sea level rise. Formally joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative would allow us to cap carbon while providing immense, sorely needed funding to protect our residents on the coast.” Senator Lewis represents the entirety of the Eastern Shore of Virginia and Mathews County as well as parts of Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
By formally joining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), Virginia regulators would unlock crucial funds for adaptation measures throughout Virginia while guaranteeing long-term reductions in carbon emissions in a way that is proven cost-effective. Revenues generated from the sale of carbon allowances could help fund coastal resilience efforts, support economic development in Southwest Virginia, and expand clean energy and efficiency investments statewide.
RGGI is a cooperative effort, currently comprised of nine East Coast states from Maine to Maryland, that caps and reduces carbon emissions from power plants. Under RGGI, power plants in participating states purchase allowances for every ton of carbon pollution that they emit. RGGI states agree amongst themselves how many pollution allowances to offer for sale each year, thus setting a cap on emissions, and they gradually lower the cap each year. It’s a flexible, market-based system. Participating states set the carbon cap and then power plants decide how to stay below it. Revenue from the auction of pollution allowances goes back to the states to fund carbon reduction programs and other initiatives decided by each state. Virginia’s participation in RGGI is projected to raise roughly $200 million per year through 2030 in auction allowances.
The event was coordinated by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Virginia Interfaith Power & Light, the Interspiritual Empowerment Project, and Virginia Organizing. Visit CCAN for more details on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
CONTACT:
Denise Robbins, Communications Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network; denise@chesapeakeclimate.org; (608)-620-8819
Harrison Wallace, Virginia Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network; Harrison@chesapeakeclimate.org; (804) 305-1472

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Environmental Advocates Take Step Toward Stopping Construction Activities Tied to Nationwide Permit 12

 
RICHMOND, VA — Today, a coalition of environmental advocates filed a petition for judicial review that could again halt construction of the fracked gas Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). Less than a week after their legal efforts led to the cessation of MVP’s construction activities in 591 streams and wetlands in West Virginia, the coalition is trying to do the same in Virginia.
Today’s petition is filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and targets the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) in the Norfolk District because last week’s ruling was in response to legal filings in the Huntington, WV district and could be limited to the section of the pipeline in that district.
Under section 404 of the Clean Water Act, the Corps is charged with issuing a permit for a pipeline’s stream crossings that allows the project’s builders to trench through the bottom of those streams and fill the crossings with dirt during construction. The permit issued to the MVP by the Corps is commonly known as a “nationwide permit 12,” which takes a one-size-fits-all approach.
The MVP is proposed to be 300 miles long and would cross streams, rivers and other waters in West Virginia and Virginia more than 1,000 times. Because MVP’s own documents shows it cannot meet the conditions required under the nationwide 404 permit in West Virginia, the streamlined permit issued by the Corps is unlawful. Under the Corps’ regulations, if even a single stream crossing is ineligible for nationwide permit 12, then a pipeline cannot use that permit for any of its other crossings.
The coalition of advocates behind today’s filing includes New River Conservancy, Appalachian Voices, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and the Sierra Club and is represented by Appalachian Mountain Advocates.
In response, Sierra Club Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign Director Kelly Martin released the following statement:
“The Nationwide Permit 12 cannot be used as a one-size-fits-all approach for dirty and dangerous pipelines that threaten our communities and clean water. The fracked gas Mountain Valley Pipeline has already caused serious problems in Virginia and construction must be halted immediately as the case to protect our water and communities proceeds.”
Anne Havemann, Senior Counsel at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network stated:
“A one-size-fits-all permit is completely wrong for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, no matter if that’s in West Virginia or in Virginia. Regulators need to take a real look at the impacts from this unneeded and devastating pipeline — a blanket approach is simply unacceptable.”
Peter Anderson, Virginia Program Manager for Appalachian Voices stated:
“Directly impacted communities in Virginia deserve the same protection from this destructive project as those in West Virginia. The Mountain Valley Pipeline cannot cross waters without damaging water quality. Not only is the blanket Nationwide Permit 12 inappropriate for projects of this size, but project de
“Putting the breaks on in-stream construction activity for the Mountain Valley Pipeline while the court performs its full review not only makes sense, it is also the only just outcome for communities directly impacted by this destructive project. MVP’s inability to cross rivers in compliance with the conditions of the permit is the most obvious – but certainly not the only – reason why blanket permits should not be used for projects of this size. An individual permit considering the full impact of constructing a 42-inch diameter pipeline through steep terrain and sensitive water bodies should be required.”

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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.
Contact: Doug Jackson, 202.495.3045 or doug.jackson@sierraclub.org
 

Landowners Announce “Encampment” in Bath County to Stop Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Preserve Unique Old Growth Forest

Hundreds of activists expected as part of the “No Pipeline Summer” camp on the Limperts’ property.

Action represents the newest “front line” against radical fracked-gas pipelines, builds on recent court-ordered delay of MVP pipeline

RICHMOND, VA – Virginia landowners Bill and Lynn Limpert today announced a summer-long “encampment” on their property in Bath County dedicated to stopping Dominion Energy’s proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The proposed pipeline right of way would destroy hundreds of old growth trees — some as old as 300 years — on the Limperts’ land and construction would decapitate much of a 3000-foot-long ridge on their land.

B-roll footage links here and here. Photos available upon request.

The encampment — called “No Pipeline Summer: Camp to Save the Limperts’ Land” — is expected to draw hundreds of short- and long-term campers who will maintain a continuous presence on and along the proposed route of Dominion’ Atlantic Coast Pipeline for the duration of the summer and into the fall. The protest is expected to draw concerned citizens from across the state and region, including high-profile public leaders and national celebrities, to this exceptionally iconic landscape directly in the path of Dominion’s unneeded and harmful fracked-gas pipeline.

“We are happy to invite folks to our property on beautiful Miracle Ridge,” said Bill Limpert, property owner in Bath County who is hosting the encampment. “Together we will share the beauty of our old growth forest, walk under the ancient trees, and learn about the devastating negative impacts that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline would bring to us, our neighbors, and tens of thousands of others on or near the proposed route.”

The Limperts were joined by leaders of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, which is helping to coordinate the encampment and also involved in lawsuits against the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines.

Last week, the Fourth Circuit issued a stay of a crucial permit that the Mountain Valley Pipeline needs to build across waterways. Anne Havemann, Senior Counsel at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, stated: “The problem is that Mountain Valley cannot comply with a West Virginia condition that requires stream crossings to be completed in 72 hours, rendering the entire permit issued by the Army Corps of Engineers invalid. Like MVP, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline can’t cross certain streams within 72 hours, calling its same Army Corps permit into question. Campers who travel to Bath County this summer will call on the Army Corps and other decision makers to suspend these invalid permits and take a closer look at the impacts. We’re confident a full review will lead them to conclude that there simply is no safe way to build the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.”

“Ultimately all of us are at risk from the catastrophic impacts of climate change that this and other natural gas pipelines would bring, so it is important to come together to draw attention to what is at stake,” said Limpert.

CONTACT:

Denise Robbins, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, denise@chesapeakeclimate.org; 608-620-8819
Bill Limpert, wflimpert@gmail.com
Mike Tidwell, Director, mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org, 240-460-5838

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Statement from the CCAN Action Fund and Preserve Floyd on Virginia’s State Surveillance of Pipeline Protest Groups

Groups Call on Gov. Northam to Immediately Order the Virginia Fusion Center to End All Surveillance

On Friday, June 1, 2018, the Richmond Times Dispatch revealed that the “Virginia Fusion Center,” a state government network whose mission is to defend the Commonwealth against terrorist threats and deter criminal activity, has instead been using its vital resources to monitor the activities of purely peaceful environmental, social justice, and anti-pipeline groups and then report those activities directly to the developer of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.  

In response, CCAN Action Fund and Preserve Floyd issued the following statement:

“The documents reported on by the Richmond Times Dispatch reveal that the state is working with EQT, the developer of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, to surveil and monitor purely peaceful groups who support clean energy, work for climate justice, and oppose the Mountain Valley Pipeline. This is unacceptable. In our America, you should be able to participate in a protest about an issue you care about without having to worry that government operatives are watching you and reporting your activities directly to a private company that is building an unwanted and unneeded pipeline through Virginians’ waterways, beloved mountains, and treasured forests. Our groups are fiercely dedicated the time-honored tradition of peaceful protest. The idea that our activities, which include prayer vigils, peaceful sit-ins, and music concerts, rise to the level of “violent extremism” would be laughable if it weren’t so chilling. This spying is un-American and an enormous waste of taxpayer money.

“Harm is being inflicted on Virginians, but it’s not from these peaceful groups that work with Virginians to raise concerns about this disastrous pipeline. It’s EQT that is causing the harm. The company proposes to build a dangerous and unnecessary 300-mile-long pipeline that would rip through national forests, tear down pristine mountain ridges, and cross the Appalachian Trail. It’s EQT that is turning landowners into trespassers on their own property by seizing land through eminent domain. It’s EQT’s pipeline that prompted government agents to deny food, water, and medical consultation to pipeline opponents who were peacefully sitting in trees in an attempt to stop the pipeline from tearing through their property and beloved mountains. It’s EQT’s Mountain Valley Pipeline that poses the real threat to Virginians, not our nonviolent organizations.

“We call on Governor Ralph Northam and other relevant state leaders to immediately order the Virginia Fusion Center to end all surveillance of peaceful pipeline protesters. This activity is unacceptable and just further highlights the moral disgrace of the pipeline itself.”

CONTACT:
Denise Robbins, Communications Director, CCAN Action Fund, denise@chesapeakeclimate.org, 608-620-8810
Mara Robbins, Preserve Floyd, mara.robbins@gmail.com, 540-808-8357

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CCAN Statement: Hogan-Appointed PSC Members Approve AltaGas Merger That Supports Governor’s Fracked-Gas Expansion While Harming Consumers

The Chair of the PSC Dissents in the Commission’s Controversial 4-1 Vote, Saying Deal Creates “Impermissible Financial Risk” for Consumers and Ignores Grave Environmental Concerns

BALTIMORE, MD — The Maryland Public Service Commission approved a harmful merger today between Canadian company AltaGas and local utility Washington Gas that opens Maryland’s doors to large amounts of fracked gas from neighboring Pennsylvania and West Virginia and threatens Maryland’s progress on climate. A main goal of the merger and related settlement commitments is to “kick-start” a natural gas expansion across Maryland. As scientists confirm that fracked gas is essentially as harmful to the climate as coal, the PSC’s approval of the Hogan Administration’s merger terms sets the state back in its effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions and move toward clean energy.
PSC Chair Kevin Hughes blasted the 4-1 decision in an unusually sharp dissenting note. Hughes warned of both immediate and long-term economic harm from the deal, including the likely downgrading of WGL’s credit rating. WGL is the parent company of Washington Gas. Hughes also criticized the four Hogan-appointed commissioners for ignoring environmental advocates who submitted comments warning that the settlement was “contrary to the State’s policy on greenhouse gas reduction and its commitment to clean energy.”

The merger agreement opens the door to AltaGas spending $70 million to promote pipeline construction and other fracked-gas infrastructure in the state with the possibility of charging the full cost to ratepayers. Additionally, AltaGas is mandated to fulfill a settlement pledge with the Hogan Administration to put $33 million into a fund to be administered by the state of Maryland to assist additional gas companies with the construction of more fracked-gas pipelines across Maryland.

In March, CCAN and 15 other Maryland-based groups filed formal comments with the Public Service Commission arguing that instead of kick-starting a natural gas expansion throughout Maryland — which runs contrary to Maryland’s commitment to clean energy and greenhouse gas reductions, puts public health and safety at risk, and exposes the state to litigation — the PSC should instead redirect those funds to fixing methane leaks in the state. The letter described the failures of Maryland’s current leak-detection program and urged the PSC to direct funds to fixing the Maryland’s existing program or to funding a new program.

The Hogan-appointed commissioners did nothing to address the commenters’ concerns. The commissioners absurdly stated that the environmental comments could not be addressed in the PSC proceeding. The commissioners claimed that the comments were submitted after the official record was closed even though environmental groups submitted them during the established comment period for the settlement agreement. As Chairman Hughes pointedly noted in his dissent: “Given that the [Hogan Administration’s] gas expansion proposal was made late in the proceedings, and after the close of the Commission’s initial evidentiary hearings, the majority should have considered and addressed these environmental concerns in the context of the public interest test.”

In response, Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, issued the following statement:

“This merger is a terrible deal for Marylanders’ pocketbooks and for climate change policy. Spearheaded by the Hogan Administration, the merger mandates that $33 million be invested in fracked-gas pipelines and combustion throughout Maryland. And another $70 million in fracked-gas investments could be charged to consumers down the road, per the Governor’s wish. Almost exactly a year ago, Hogan signed a ban on fracking for gas in Maryland, a move that was supported by a strong majority of Maryland residents. Marylanders know that gas fracked in Pennsylvania is just as devastating to public health, the environment, and the climate as gas fracked in Maryland. Today, the Hogan Administration has kicked the doors down for more fracked-gas infrastructure and gas combustion all across Maryland.”

CONTACT:
Denise Robbins, Communications Director, 608-620-8819, denise@chesapeakeclimate.org
Mike Tidwell, Director, 240-460-5838, mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org
Anne Havemann, General Counsel, 202-997-2466, anne@chesapeakeclimate.org

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