Thousands call on Gov. Northam to protect Virginia waters from fracked-gas pipelines

Event comes on heels of after-hours DEQ announcement to allow MVP construction

Richmond, Va. — Citizens representing Virginia landowners, the faith community, scientists, people of color, water protectors and clean energy advocates today called on Governor Ralph Northam to protect Virginia’s waters by taking immediate action on the proposed Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines. The action comes the morning after Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality approved water pollution plans for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, paving the way for its construction.
At a press conference at the Bell Tower on Capitol Square, citizens presented the Northam administration with 10,000 petition signatures signed by Virginian residents. The signatories call on the governor to protect the drinking water supplies of countless Virginians from the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines, which would cross streams and other waters more than 1,400 times across the state.

For high-resolution photos (available shortly), please contact Cat McCue at cat@appvoices.org or 434-953-8672

The group also presented a petition from Change.org with more than 62,000 signatures from other concerned citizens from around the country calling on Governor Northam to reject the pipelines. In addition to the projects’ tremendous climate impacts that affect all Americans, the projects bisect national treasures including the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Appalachian Trail, and many miles of national forest land.
The petition demands that the Northam administration immediately halt the ongoing tree-felling along the routes, allow the public to review and comment on the erosion and stormwater control plans before they are finalized by the Department of Environmental Quality, and take action to ensure the state analyzes individual stream impacts, rather than the Trump administration’s Corps of Engineers.
Just yesterday evening, at 7 p.m., the Department of Environmental Quality announced it had finalized the water plans for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, authorizing the start of land-disturbing activities, without letting the public have one last chance to provide feedback on the critical water pollution plans.
“Citizens all along the MVP route have spent years educating themselves about this project and its potential impacts — everything is at stake for them. They’ve been asking Gov. Northam and his administration for one more chance to review these critical water pollution control plans before the DEQ finalized them and allowed construction to proceed. In an affront to all Virginians, this decision shut them out,” said Peter Anderson, Virginia Program Manager with Appalachian Voices.
“My question for Governor Northam is simple: did you really mean it when you said the DEQ reviews had to be thorough, transparent, and based on science? The science is clear – these projects will be the most damaging for Virginia’s waters in decades. It is time to turn your words into action,” said David Sligh with Wild Virginia.
“Governor Northam promised to hold these dangerous pipelines to the highest environmental standards,” said Jamshid Bakhtiari, Virginia Field Coordinator at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “Now, we’re seeing him already go back on this promise. The DEQ will allow the Mountain Valley Pipeline to begin construction, threatening the communities of countless Virginians, without allowing for any further public input. These pipelines will lock us into fossil fuels for decades if Governor Northam doesn’t take action. Thousands and thousands of concerned residents in Virginia — and across the country — are watching.”
“The plans approved for the Mountain Valley Pipeline are not environmentally sound and, from an engineering standpoint, will not sufficiently protect the environment and our drinking water from the pipeline’s construction impacts,” Kirk Bowers, Professional Engineer and Pipelines Program Coordinator for the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, said. “Sierra Club had to utilize a Freedom of Information Act request in order to fully review the plans and come to these conclusions. Leaving those in the public without the financial and legal resources to use the FOIA in the dark is absolutely unacceptable. All Virginians should have had a chance to review and evaluate these plans for the Mountain Valley Pipeline and should get the chance for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.”
At the press conference, the citizens handed the petitions to the Administration’s office. They held different color survey tape to show the average 125-foot width of pipeline tree-felling and construction, and the 50-foot permanent right-of-way that will scar hundreds of miles of mountains, farms and fields through the commonwealth. They also held several large posters with pictures showing some of the places the pipelines will impact as well as pictures of failed erosion controls on other pipeline projects in mountainous terrain.
The event was organized by Appalachian Voices, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Natural Resources Defense Council, Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, Virginia Interfaith Power and Light, and Wild Virginia.

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Contact:
Lara Mack, Appalachian Voices, lara@appvoices.org 540-246-9720 (m)
Jamshid Bahktiari, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, jamshid@chesapeakeclimate.org 757-386-8107
Kirk Bowers, Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, kirk.bowers@sierraclub.org 434- 249 1439

AS FERC ANNOUNCES FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENTS ON PIPELINES, RESISTANCE SWELLS

On Friday, June 23rd, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released its final environmental review for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). The highly-flawed Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) paints a false and misleading picture of this massive, dangerous fracked-gas pipeline.
The FEIS does not spell good news for pipeline opposition, but it is far from final approval. There are many stages left in the process at the federal, state, and legal levels — and there is a growing movement committed to stopping this pipeline, along with Dominion’s proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), a pipeline of similar size and route. This growing resistance, alongside the shift in political narrative around these pipelines, show that the FEIS will only further the conviction and resolve of the growing anti-pipeline movement.
The Pipeline Pledge of Resistance is just one example of this conviction. The hundreds of people who have signed have pledged to engage in any tactic necessary to stop the ACP and MVP — including nonviolent civil disobedience and even risking arrest. To date, nearly 400 people have pledged to risk arrest to stop these pipelines. Plus, nearly 1,000 have pledged to engage in some form of support for those willing to participate in dignified civil disobedience to stop these radical infrastructure projects.
Those familiar with FERC’s history are not surprised by its shoddy environmental review. Since 1986, FERC has approved every proposal for a fracked-gas infrastructure projects that it has come across, with the exception of the Pacific Connector Pipeline and accompanying liquefied natural gas export terminal in 2016.1 Many of these projects have resulted in spills and even explosions. Furthermore, the agency has very strong ties to the very industry it is tasked with regulating. Since 2000, 12 of 15 former commissioners are “currently employed either directly or indirectly in the fossil fuel industry as executives, directors, partners, lobbyists, and/or consultants.”2
The opposition to the proposed fracked-gas pipelines is not just limited to those who have signed the Pledge. In recent months, the opposition has reached a fever pitch. Numerous groups and organizations have voiced their disapproval of the pipelines. In January, a letter signed on behalf of members of numerous indigenous tribes in the region denouncing the Atlantic Coast Pipeline was released to the public.

30710794543_a58360f44f_hPhoto from Flickr user Joe Brusky with a Creative Commons license. 

In April, announcements that both of these pipelines would trigger miles of ridgetop removal shocked public conscience throughout the region, with various Appalachian Trail hiking groups and enthusiasts assembling in Richmond last month to call upon Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe to use his authority to reject the projects.   
Finally, in May, a band of Virginia-based military veterans, representing every branch on the military, released an open letter to the Governor, linking the the MVP and the ACP to the movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota.
IMG_6105.
The broadening of the anti-pipeline movement in Virginia is indicative of a larger shift in the Commonwealth’s political culture. The contentious gubernatorial primaries this year in the state were dubbed a “referendum on pipelines”, with anti-pipeline candidates from both major parties winning districts along the proposed routes of these pipelines. Furthermore, over 50 Democratic candidates for Virginia’s House of Delegates have pledged to refuse money from Dominion Energy, the primary shareholder in the ACP and the largest contributor to political campaigns in Virginia.
Regardless of FERC’s announcement, the efforts to stop these pipelines in order to protect our land, water, communities, and climate will ultimately come from the massive grassroots movement. The movement has brought together folks from across Virginia from all walks of life with a common goal — and they are willing to put the their bodies on the line to achieve it.

1http://public-accountability.org/2017/02/oil-gas-industry-dominates-federal-agency-responsible-for-pipeline-approvals
2Ibid.