Chesterfield Residents, Community, and Climate Groups Rally Amid Fresh Zoning Challenges to Dominion Gas Plant

Dozens of concerned citizens call for the Board to protect health and climate

CHESTERFIELD, VA – Today, dozens of concerned Chesterfield County residents rallied at the monthly Chesterfield Board of Supervisors meeting to protest against the tentative placement of Dominion Energy’s proposed gas power plant in their county. The boisterous gathering was organized in response to the Board of Zoning Appeals’ refusal to hear an appeal from the Friends of Chesterfield community group – which was joined at the rally by allies from the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Mothers Out Front, Chesterfield County Branch NAACP, and other local advocates. Protesters held up signs and chanted slogans opposing the new plant and other fossil fuel infrastructure projects that endanger public health and contribute to climate change.

Just hours before the rally, Friends of Chesterfield announced it had filed a fresh challenge with the county, attempting to call Dominion’s zoning into question. A day prior, the Southern Environmental Law Center also published a report that it had commissioned, which found that constructing an alternative renewable-based energy portfolio would cost ratepayers less than half the projected cost of CERC while providing the same annual energy and peak capacity – addressing reliability concerns.

As the rally gathered momentum, speakers addressed the crowd outside of the building before entering to address the Board meeting with public comments including the following:

Statement from Melissa Thomas, Mothers Out Front: 

“Residents of Chesterfield County, who have for decades endured the harmful consequences of pollution from fossil fuel combustion in their community, are pleading with their locally elected representatives to exercise the authority entrusted to them. Their request is straightforward: Please grant us the opportunity to voice our concerns in a public hearing.”

Statement from Glen Besa, Friends of Chesterfield: 

“Why is the Board of Supervisors refusing to hold a hearing on Dominion Energy’s massive methane gas power plant that would be the county’s largest source of air pollution? That is a question that every resident of Chesterfield should be asking Chairman Holland and all the county supervisors.” 

Statement from Rachel James, Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC), speaking on behalf of her client: 

“The Chesterfield Branch of the NAACP is committed to elevating the voices of underrepresented groups to ensure their inputs inform each stage of the decision-making processes associated with Dominion’s proposed gas plant. The challenge here is that instead of stepping up to take advantage of the opportunity for local input into the air permit evaluation, the Board of Supervisors is stepping back. The Board is deferring to the Department of Environmental Quality to make a determination that the law recognizes local governing bodies, informed by their constituents, are equipped to make. Holding a public hearing on the issue of site suitability is completely within the Board’s authority to do. Refusing to hold a hearing is unacceptable. That’s why we’re here.”

Statement from Mason Manley, Central Virginia Organizer for the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN):

“For more than a year now, Chesterfield residents have expressed their discontent at the lack of meaningful public participation in county approval processes for the so-called Chesterfield Energy Reliability Center. Now, the voices of Chesterfield residents could not be clearer: telling the Board to hold a vote on the matter of Site Suitability and Value and vote ‘No.’” 

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The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the oldest and largest grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with climate change in the Chesapeake Bay region. For more than 20 years, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and beyond.

 

Dominion’s Offshore Wind Announcement Undercut By Efforts To Slow Clean Energy and Push Fossil Fuels

Statement by Mike Tidwell, Executive Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network:

“We welcome the news that Dominion is making steps to bring offshore wind to Virginia. But this should have happened years ago. Dominion already lost a federal grant for $40 million for dragging its feet on the project. Will ratepayers have to foot that bill? Now, Dominion is moving forward because it has no choice — it is clear that offshore wind is an economic winner.

Meanwhile, Dominion continues to push for dangerous climate-warming fossil fuel projects like the Atlantic Coast pipeline, along with the support of Governor Terry McAuliffe. The offshore wind pilot project is nowhere near what’s needed to bring us to a clean energy economy. If McAuliffe and Dominion were truly serious about helping Virginia become a leader in clean energy, they would stop pushing for fracked-gas pipelines or offshore drilling and start focusing on expanding clean energy.”

CONTACT: 
Denise Robbins, Communications Director; denise@chesapeakeclimate.org; 608-620-8819
Harrison Wallace, Virginia Policy Coordinator; harrison@chesapeakeclimate.org; 804-305-1472

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Photo at the top from Flickr user Nuon with a Creative Commons license. 

Victims Of Mountaintop Removal From Dominion’s Proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline Speak Out In Front of Governor McAuliffe’s Office

Following news that Dominion’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline would obliterate 38 miles of ridgelines in Virginia and West Virginia, several severely impacted residents and business owners spoke at a Richmond press conference detailing their concerns and calling on McAuliffe to reject the pipeline.

RICHMOND, VA — Virginia residents whose lives and property would be destroyed by mountaintop removal — triggered by Dominion Resources’ proposed fracked-gas pipeline — spoke out at a press conference today outside Governor Terry McAuliffe’s office. They demanded the Governor use his full legal authority to stop Dominion’s plan to explode entire ridgetops along 38 miles of mountains to build the controversial Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

According to a new briefing paper, Dominion Resources intends to blast away, excavate, and partially remove entire ridgetops along 38 miles of Appalachian mountains as part of the construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Similar impacts – although not yet fully inventoried – are expected to come from the construction of a second pipeline to the south: the Mountain Valley Pipeline led by the company EQT.

During the press conference, speakers demanded the Governor use his regulatory power to halt both proposed pipelines. They detailed how their communities will be directly impacted by the shattered ridgelines that will come with the construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. They explained how the Atlantic Coast Pipeline would force businesses to close, lower property values, and harm the tourism economy. Additionally, they detailed how the pipeline would cause irrevocable harms to the natural environment, and increase the threats of water pollution and landslides.

“The proposed pipeline has been a 24/7 nightmare for my wife and I since we first learned of it,” said Bill Limpert, retired environmental regulator and property owner Little Valley, Bath County. “The Atlantic Coast Pipeline would cut our property in half. Then it would leave an 125-foot-wide scar for 3,000 feet along Miracle Ridge, which is now covered by old growth forest — some of it never cut. It would lower our property value by at least 50 percent, and our property would become a toxic asset. It would also leave us well within the blast zone of the pipeline, and we — and a number of our neighbors — are trapped at the head of Little Valley in the evacuation zone with no chance of escape or rescue in a pipeline accident. We would be forced to abandon our retirement home and property if the pipeline is constructed as proposed. We simply cannot live next to this dangerous pipeline or witness the destruction it would bring upon our property, and we will not relent in fighting it with everything we have.”

Engineering and policy experts have examined documents submitted by Dominion to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and, using GIS mapping software, found that Dominion would require mountaintops to be “reduced” by 10 to 60 feet along the proposed route of the pipeline. For perspective, the height equivalent of a five-story building would be erased in places from fully forested and ancient mountains.

In addition to the expected mountaintop removal, Dominion has yet to reveal how it intends to dispose of at least 247,000 dump-truck-loads of excess rock and soil—known as “overburden”—that would accumulate from the construction along just these 38 miles of ridgetops.

Nancy McMoneagle, President and Executive Director of The Monroe Institute, stated: “The Monroe Institute has done business in Nelson County since 1979, contributing almost $2 million annually to Nelson County’s economy, employing around 50 staff and service contractors. If the Atlantic Coast Pipeline comes through Institute property as is now projected, our operations would be decimated, all these jobs would be lost, and thousands of our customers throughout the world would be left without our services.”

Dominion has submitted a proposal to FERC to build a 42-inch diameter pipeline that would transport natural gas from West Virginia into Virginia and North Carolina. Dominion has attempted to paint the Atlantic Coast Pipeline as an “environmentally-friendly” project. However, its proposed construction method and route selection across and along steep mountains is unprecedented for the region—if not the country—and is viewed as extreme and radical by landowners, conservationists, and engineers. Similar impacts – although not yet fully inventoried – could come from the construction of a second pipeline to the south: the Mountain Valley Pipeline led by the company EQT Midstream Partners, LP.

“Dominion is taking our land in order to destroy the mountain ridge directly over our home,” said Joseph W. McMoneagle, President of the New Land Home Owners Association. “Blasting on Roberts Mountain will destroy this mountain’s stability, and permanently disrupt the delicate underground water supply to more than half a dozen homes in our subdivision. Stripping old growth trees and underbrush will open the mountain ridge to heavy erosion, and future mud and landslides that will overrun our natural mountain springs and streams. Most of our residents are over age sixty, so we have a frequent need for emergency vehicles traveling unhindered in and out of our valley. Because our roads are excessively narrow and steep, it will be impossible to pass Dominion’s pipeline construction trucks during one of those emergencies. Altering our roads will be taking our land without the excuse of a pipeline. I ask the Governor to put an immediate stop to this nonsense before someone is seriously hurt.”

The full briefing paper is available here.

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Contact:

Denise Robbins, 240-396-2022, denise@chesapeakeclimate.org

Anne Havemann, 240-396-1984, anne@chesapeakeclimate.org

Coal Ash in Virginia – What's Next

As summer winds down, the battle over Virginia’s long-term solution for coal ash disposal is heating back up. This summer saw several significant events and improvements in the fight against reckless coal ash disposal in Virginia.
First, the Virginia Sierra Club and Southern Environmental Law Center teamed up in court to sue Dominion for violations of the Clean Water Act at its leaking Chesapeake coal ash ponds. The trial spanned 4 days in Richmond, at the end of which Judge Gibney said he was inclined to agree that arsenic was in fact leaking from the Chesapeake coal ash ponds and that Dominion was in violation of the Clean Water Act, but said he was not yet sure of a solution. He plans to rule on the case within the next few months.
This summer also saw the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency close a significant loophole in its coal ash rule. Previously, if utilities managed to close their inactive coal ash ponds within three years of the issuance of the rule, they would essentially escape all federal regulation. We speculate that this is why Dominion was moving so quickly–faster than almost all other utilities in the country–to close its inactive ponds. Thankfully, thanks to a lawsuit brought by Earthjustice and others, this loophole is now removed.
We view this as a significant win. Before this update, inactive coal ash ponds that closed early were not subject to any groundwater monitoring or other post-closure care requirements–basically, they were unregulated under federal law. Under this new rule, Dominion no longer has an incentive to meet the April 2018 closure deadline and, if it does, the company will still not be able to escape the full requirements of the coal ash rule. Dominion’s inactive ponds are now subject to monitoring and corrective action; groundwater contamination at the site is subject to strict cleanup standards; and these monitoring and cleanup requirements apply for 30 years after closure. We hope that this new EPA rule will result in Dominion giving more thought to its closure plans.
Despite these victories, there is still much work to be done. The next permit fight on the table is a dewatering permit for Dominion’s Chesterfield coal ash ponds. These ponds, which sit directly next to a playground and park, hold millions of tons of coal ash. They were shown to be leaking into the James River during a study conducted by Duke University earlier this summer.
This permit process goes before the Virginia State Water Control Board on September 22nd in Richmond, Virginia for a public hearing. The hearing will begin at 9:30 am at the General Assembly Building, House Room C (9th & Broad Streets) in Richmond. This permit still has serious deficiencies–from the high temperature of the released water to impacts to the endangered Atlantic Sturgeon habitat. We need Virginians to come together and show Dominion and state regulators that we demand a closure process that will protect our drinking water for decades to come, not Dominion shareholders’ bottom line. Especially as more southeastern states agree to excavate and move their coal ash to modern, lined landfills, or decide to recycle it–creating an economic windfall out of a toxic situation–Dominion lags farther and farther behind.
I’m hopeful on this campaign, friends. This summer hundreds gathered to march in 100* heat in Richmond to call on Governor McAuliffe to move us away from a future full of fossil fuels and dirty energy. To stand with Virginians, not with Dominion. Our movement is growing in Virginia and beyond. From the beautiful blockade against the Dakota Access Pipeline, to the unprecedented deployment of renewable energy across the globe, the tide is turning. We need your help to push us there.

RGGI Helps You Keep More $$$ In Your Pockets

Amazing things happen when states support the expansion of energy efficiency programs: electricity bills decline, fossil fuel pollution decreases, and the public at-large benefits. These were among the many conclusions of a highly anticipated report released last week by Analysis Group. The report studied the recorded costs and benefits of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) from 2012 through 2014 to the nine northeast states that voluntarily participate.
RGGI is a cooperative effort that caps and reduces carbon emissions from power plants. Power plants in participating states (from Maine to Maryland) purchase allowances for every ton of carbon pollution that they emit. RGGI states agree on how many pollution allowances to offer for sale each year, setting a declining cap, and the revenue from the sale of allowances is returned to individual states. (For a background explanation of RGGI, see this CCAN fact-sheet.)
In short, the report states that directing resources to energy efficiency programs “stands out as the most economically beneficial use of RGGI dollars.”
These findings are important, particularly due to the report’s timing. In a matter of weeks the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to finalize the rules of the Clean Power Plan which will require Virginia to cut its carbon pollution by over one-third within the next fifteen years. RGGI is a solution to the Clean Power Plan and could provide Virginians with numerous other benefits as well.

Analysis Group Report: In Detail

One very important detail: This new Analysis Group report focuses solely on the economic costs and benefits of RGGI. The report acknowledges that RGGI was originally formed for the expressed purpose of reducing fossil fuel pollution to combat climate change. RGGI certainly has benefits to the environment, public health, and other areas that the researchers don’t consider as a part of the scope of this study. Analysis Group measured only the impacts of RGGI on the economy in the nine participating states.

On Energy Efficiency

RGGI states’ successful usage of energy efficiency investments paved the way towards $460 million in total electricity bill reductions for consumers in the past three years, while lowering carbon pollution faster than these states expected. The report concedes that there are many other ways states benefited by participating in RGGI, which includes both direct and indirect costs throughout the region. On the whole, Analysis Group found that the enormous benefits to consumers via energy efficiency resources created through RGGI dramatically outweighed the costs of participation in the program.
Specifically, the report found the following:

“RGGI-funded expenditures on energy efficiency depress regional electrical demand, power prices, and consumer payments for electricity. This benefits all consumers through downward pressure on wholesale prices, even as it particularly benefits those consumers that actually take advantage of such programs, implement energy efficiency measures, and lower both their overall energy use and monthly bills. These savings stay in the pockets of electricity users directly.”

In short, RGGI-supported energy efficiency dollars save consumers money. According to the latest data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the average residential customer’s electricity bills in the nine RGGI states is $108.43. That figure is nearly $17 lower than the average monthly residential electricity bill Virginians pay of $125.36. The national average is $111.08.
Why do customers in RGGI states pay lower electricity bills than customers in Virginia? The answer is simple: customers in RGGI states use a lot less electricity. Again referencing the latest EIA data, the average residential user’s energy consumption in RGGI states is 702 kilowatt hours (kWh) per month, far below Virginia’s average consumption in the residential sector of 1,156 kWh monthly. The national average is 909 kWh monthly.
Statewide energy efficiency programs like lighting and appliance upgrades, home insulation inspections and improvements, and general consumer efficiency education all help customers consume less electricity, which ultimately reduces customers’ bills and decreases fossil fuel generation and pollution. Customer bills in RGGI states are lower than the national average even though electricity rates in RGGI states are indeed higher than the national average. The important factor is electricity consumption, and it’s a fact that RGGI leads to less energy consumption and consumers in RGGI states use less electricity than Virginians.
Critics of RGGI and the Clean Power Plan argue that they’re too costly. However, independent studies and documented government data strongly suggest the opposite. If done correctly, Virginia can craft its plan of compliance in a way that is extremely cost-effective and actually lowers bills for consumers. RGGI is the smartest path forward for Virginia.

Other RGGI Benefits

Even though Analysis Group concludes that energy efficiency provided the most “bang for your buck” and produced the most direct economic value to consumers, the report points out that states have been increasingly more creative in the use of RGGI dollars to advance various state priorities.

“The states’ use of allowance proceeds not only provide economic benefits, but also has helped them meet a wide variety of social, fiscal and environmental policy goals, such as addressing state and municipal budget challenges, assisting low-income customers, achieving advanced energy policy goals, and restoring wetlands, among other things.”

Sea level rise from climate change is threatening our coast. Electricity bills in Virginia are among the nation’s highest. The EPA is requiring states to reduce their carbon footprint for the public’s health and welfare. It’s time for bold, yet practical solutions in Virginia to meet these challenges.
We can begin solving all of these problems by joining RGGI and wisely reinvesting our allowance resources in adaptation, energy efficiency, and other statewide priorities. The evidence is here. The program works. Now we need the wisdom and resolve to join our neighbors by becoming the 10th state participating in RGGI.

Crossover 2015: 29 Days of Progress

It wouldn’t be a Virginia General Assembly session without high-stakes drama, last-minute surprises, and a host of political maneuvering. True to form, the first 29 days of the 45 day 2015 General Assembly session have produced more twists and turns than a Hollywood thriller. Thankfully, I can confidently say CCAN’s climate agenda has withstood a bevy of attacks and we’re on pace to seal a very successful legislative session.
Today is officially “crossover,” or the legislative midway point. As of today, all legislation that passed in the House or Senate must officially “cross over” into the other chamber and proceed through the same committee and floor voting process.
At this midway point, here’s a recap of CCAN’s top priorities with an eye of what’s to come in the future.
The Virginia Coastal Protection Act
Richmond-area Democrat Sen. Donald McEachin and Virginia Beach Republican Ron Villanueva championed the most important and aggressive piece of climate legislation we’ve ever introduced. SB 1428 and HB 2205, called the Virginia Coastal Protection Act, would join Virginia into a highly successful multi-state carbon emissions reduction program called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. The legislation would generate millions of dollars to protect residents in Tidewater Virginia from sea level rise and invest in other important climate measures like solar and energy efficiency.
This effort was the top priority of our Safe Coast Virginia report released last July. Numerous organizations, from the conservation community to low-income housing partners to the Virginia Chapter of the American Association of Pediatrics, supported this bipartisan campaign. The bill was supported by Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms, the city of Portsmouth, and the city of Norfolk, which was quick to pass a city council resolution in support of the bill and whose mayor personally lobbied for its passage. The Virginian-Pilot editorial board fully endorsed our Virginia Coastal Protection Act and even the Washington Post editorial board called joining RGGI the smart way to reduce emissions.
In short, CCAN’s Virginia Coastal Protection Act quickly became THE most positively embraced environmental legislative initiative we’ve seen in some time. It’s a no-brainer: providing funds to fight flooding while also meeting our carbon reduction goals in a cost-effective manner is a win-win for the state.
However, the bill failed to pass out of a key House subcommittee and came within one vote of passage in the full Senate committee. Delegate Villanueva and Senator McEachin deserve credit for their passion and leadership on this issue. Our supporters also deserve a tremendous amount of credit for helping to put this issue on the radar for so many people. Even though the legislation failed to pass in its first year, we have all the momentum we need to build off this year’s success and come right back next year to pass this urgently needed solution for our coast. Stay tuned for the next steps of this campaign.
Increasing Solar Development
CCAN worked with Sen. Rosalyn Dance and Del. Jennifer McClellan to introduce SB 1395 and HB 1950, which doubles the maximum size of a solar project that businesses can install on their property to help offset their energy usage. Virginia notoriously lags far behind its neighbors in solar development, so this legislation is an important step forward.
Building off the success we made last year when we worked with Sen. Hanger, Sen. Wagner, and Del. Hugo to exempt solar equipment from punishing local taxes, this year’s effort from Sen. Dance and Del. McClellan will continue to advance the state towards a clean energy future. Thanks to our patrons, friends in the solar industry, and the utilities and co-ops who have worked on this legislation, the bill has passed both the full House and full Senate, positioning us for a victory.
Withstanding the Attacks on the Clean Power Plan
Heading into session, we were on full-blown defense in fighting off attacks of President Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which mandates that Virginia cut its carbon pollution by 38% by 2030. The program is much needed and long overdue. Of course that didn’t stop big business, big coal, and its defenders in the legislature from pulling out all stops to delay Virginia’s implementation of policies to help us meet our emissions goals.
In all, there were several bills in each chamber designed to delay or prevent us from meeting our goals. Thankfully, due to your protests, calls, emails, letters to the editor, and many other actions, all of these bills have been killed in the first 29 days. The only surviving piece of legislation, SB 1365 from Sen. Watkins, merely requires the state to consult with the General Assembly and others instead of deferring action to the General Assembly so that lawmakers can press pause on implementing the plan. Chalk this up as an enormous win for the climate and a giant blow to opponents of the Clean Power Plan.
What About Dominion?
If you’re following the news on the Virginia legislative session, you’re probably plenty familiar with Sen. Wagner’s SB 1349, legislation that some consumer advocates are calling a massive ratepayer boondoggle. I’m only writing about this bill because Dominion cleverly decided to use the Clean Power Plan as a boogeyman to scare legislators into voting for it.
For more information on this bill and for some insight regarding how some of our friends feel about the jist of this legislation, see this Richmond Times-Dispatch op-ed from Sierra Club Virginia Chapter Director Glen Besa.
The most important aspect of this very complicated bill and series of events is to note that Dominion, whose power and influence is unrivaled in Virginia, was boxed into a corner by the combination of the fierce, negative public reaction of this bill, the strong, growing momentum of the environmental community, and the leadership of climate champions in the Senate who demanded more clean energy from the utility giant.
SB 1349, which seeks to establish a freeze on base rates and prevent the State Corporation Commission from reviewing whether utilities made too much profit, was recently amended – for the better of the climate community. Although final details are still being worked out, the changes would secure more than 400 MW of new utility-scale solar in Virginia in addition to the creation of new energy efficiency programs from both utilities.
In years past, this controversial bill would’ve likely sailed through the legislature without the need to amend it to appeal to the environmental community. As we continue to build power on climate and clean energy in Virginia, we can secure more positive legislative breakthroughs.
That’s all for now. I’ll have more when the 2015 legislative session officially concludes.

Natural Gas in Virginia: Dominion’s proposed pipeline and how we can stand together to fight back

Update as of November 13th, 2014:On October 31st, Dominion Resources submitted a pre-filing request to FERC, the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee, which asks them to begin the environmental review of the pipeline. Landowners, community members, and activists around the state are continuing to mobilize and fight Dominion’s FERC requests at every step of the process. CCAN has partnered with local groups on the ground to launch a petition to Governor McAuliffe asking him to renounce his support of the pipeline. Our goal is 10,000 signatures–help us reach our goal and stop the Atlantic Coast Pipeline by signing here! 

As of November 12th, Dominion gave final notice and threat to sue the 189 landowners along the path of pipeline who have not issued permission for Dominion to survey their land. If you have received a letter from Dominion and need more information, please contact: info@augustacountyalliance.org.
 
As Virginians, we’ve been fortunate enough so far to be free of fracking—the dangerous process of hydraulic fracturing for natural gas.
But just because we aren’t on top of the Marcellus Shale or Utica Shale basins, doesn’t mean we’re not connected with our neighbors battling fracking wells in their backyards, or that the dangers of our nation’s natural gas boom aren’t already threatening Virginia.
Dominion Resources recently partnered with Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, and AGL proposed a $5 billion, 550-mile pipeline that would cross through Virginia to connect natural gas production in West Virginia to consumption in North Carolina.
Starting in West Virginia, Dominion’s Atlantic-Coast Pipeline (previously known as the Reliability Pipeline) would enter through Highland County, heading into Nelson County and across the Shenandoah Valley on its way to North Carolina. The pipeline would also have an extension connecting to Hampton Roads. The  proposed route would go through the George Washington National Forest and the backyards of Virginian families.
Leaks, explosions, and other accidents are not unlikely for a project of this scale, and hundreds of Nelson County residents raised their safety and environmental concerns last week at Dominion’s first public meeting in Nelson County.

Here’s a close up of the contested route, provided by groups helping to organize local residents to fight back:

The proposed route of Dominion’s Reliability Pipeline, a $2 billion, 450-mile pipeline that would cut through Virginia on its way from West Virginia to North Carolina.

I think a more reliable project wouldn’t include the risk of gas leaks and explosions. A smarter investment would be putting that $2 billion into energy efficiency, wind, and solar energy for our region.
Instead, it’s very clear that Dominion is moving too far, too fast towards natural gas, yet another dangerous fossil fuel — and one comprised mostly of methane, a powerful heat-trapping gas known to leak at high levels during the fracking process.
In fact, Dominion Virginia Power’s Integrated Resource Plan proposes 6-7 new fossil fuel plants in Virginia over the next 15 years, and Dominion Resources (DVP’s parent company) is fighting hard for a $3.8 billion liquefied natural gas export facility in Cove Point, Maryland. It’s clear that this pipeline is one major piece of Dominion’s region-wide push to keep us locked into climate-harming fracked gas for decades to come.
Unless we stop it.
Groups of concerned citizens across the Commonwealth are banding together to resist this pipeline—and to resist all dangerous, new natural gas pipelines and infrastructure that are a threat to our state.
Please check out the following organizations that are coordinating regional resistance to the pipeline and supporting homeowners along the proposed routes. Join their mailing lists for immediate updates on the pipeline routes as they continue to unfold:
Friends of Nelson County

Shenandoah Valley Network

  • Serves Augusta County, Frederick County, Page County, Rockingham County, Shenandoah County, Warren County
  • Working to protect and sustain the rural landscapes, communities, and ecosystems of the Shenandoah Valley by working with strong local citizens’ groups, promoting smart local land use, and effective land protection strategies
  • http://www.svnva.org/

Augusta County Alliance

Highlanders for Responsible Development

  • Highland County, VA
  • Highlanders for Responsible Development is a citizens’ group that promotes stewardship of Highland County’s unspoiled landscape, natural resources and exceptional quality of life. We support policies and activities that are based upon informed community discourse, democratic decision making, prudent land use and sustainable economic development.
  • http://www.protecthighland.org

Visit us back here for more updates as they unfold. CCAN will be keeping all eyes on the pipeline route and the proposal process to make sure we inform supporters with the first opportunity for public comments and other actions we can take statewide to stop the pipeline.
For updates on the pipeline project: http://www.nelsoncounty-va.gov/pipeline-information-and-updates/