Pipelines Issues with ACP & MVP in our National Forests

by Duane Nichols on February 19, 2017

Public Participation is Necessary!

Atlantic Coast Pipeline — Action to Support our National Forest

We need your help to protect one of the wildest, most intact forests in the East.

Dominion’s proposed 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline would cross 21 miles of the George Washington and Monongahela National Forests. Ask the Forest Service to reject Dominion’s efforts to shortcut the process for pipeline approval and Forest Plan amendment.

Before the ACP can be built across the national forests, the US Forest Service must (1) issue Special Use Permits and (2) amend forest management plans. To make these decisions, the Forest Service must review the impacts of the project according to the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act and its own procedures. The Forest Service has consistently shown its commitment to a careful and thorough analysis of these types of projects, requiring applicants to provide complete and high quality information and making decisions based on its own timelines.

For the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the Forest Service depends, in a significant way, on the work of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is in charge of preparing an environmental impact statement. But on December 30, 2016 FERC published an incomplete and inaccurate Draft EIS that fails to address many Forest Service and public concerns. Most importantly, FERC improperly allows an applicant to defer submitting critical information until after a Certificate is issued or construction is underway, so the Forest Service won’t have the information needed to make its decisions.

On December 13, 2016 the Forest Service wrote to FERC describing its own procedural requirements for reviewing the ACP application, including a timeline that is longer than FERC’s schedule for project permitting. The Forest Service stated that, prior to making decisions on the project, all requested and needed data and plans must have been submitted and disclosed to the public. Local communities that will be affected by the pipeline strongly support the Forest Service’s commitment to its regulatory review process.

It is critical that the Forest Service stay committed to the process and professional standards it upholds as stewards of our public lands. The Forest Service must take the time that it needs and the law provides to meet these standards.

We believe that Dominion is extremely concerned about potential delays and Forest Service conditions. Dominion has repeatedly requested “expedited” review of this complex project which has so much potential to negatively impact both public and private lands.

We are asking you to voice your support for the U. S. Forest Service’s commitment to its requirements for a careful, thorough review of the pipeline application.

Send statements of support to Forest Service Chief, Thomas Tidwell, ttidwell@fs.gov, and Regional Foresters, Kathleen Atkinson, katkinson@fs.gov, and Tony Tooke, ttooke@fs.gov.

Copies should also be submitted to FERC (to be included in the administrative record).

Submissions can be made through http://www.ferc.gov/. The docket number is CP15-554. Click on Documents and Filings and use the eComment feature. Or send by mail to: Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr., Deputy Secretary, FERC, 888 First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.

Source: Atlantic Coast Pipeline: Action to Support our National Forests,  Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance (www.abralliance.org)

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Upcoming ACP Community Meetings

>>> Date: February 23, 2017,            Time: 6 pm

Where: West Virginia Weslyan College Performing Arts Center, Greek Room

>>> Date: March 1, 2017,  Time: 5-9 pm

Where: Grandy Dance Theater 359 Beverly Pike, Elkins, West Virginia 26241

>>> Date: March 2, 2017, Time: 5-9 pm

Where: Marlinton Community Wellness Center 320 9th Street, Marlinton, WV. 24954

ALSO: Direct Action Training (Learn the types and methods of Direct Action)

>>> Date: February 25, 2017, Time: 9 am-5 pm

Where: Pearisburg Community Center (Giles County)

1410 Wenonah Avenue, Pearisburg, Virginia

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Mountain Valley Pipeline Public Hearing Information

Mountain Valley Pipeline Public Hearing Notice

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection – Division of Water and Waste Management will hold public hearings regarding the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline project for State 401 Water Quality Certification, Natural Streams Preservation Act Permit, and for Oil and Gas General Water Pollution Control Permit. Oral and written comments will be accepted at each hearing. The hearings will start at 6:00PM at the following locations:

For Natural Streams Preservation Act Permit, State 401 Water Quality Certification, and Oil and Gas General Water Pollution Control Permit:

* Summers County at Summers Memorial Building (451 1st Ave in Hinton) on Tuesday March 7, 2017.

For State 401 Water Quality Certification and Oil and Gas General Water Pollution Control Permit:

* Webster County at Webster County High School auditorium on Monday March 6, 2017.

* Harrison County at Robert C. Byrd High School Large Group Instruction Room on Thursday March 9, 2017.

The Mountain Valley Pipeline project is comprised of approximately 195 miles of natural gas pipeline along with compressor stations, meter stations, access roads, and interconnects through: Wetzel, Harrison, Doddridge, Lewis, Braxton, Webster, Nicholas, Greenbrier, Fayette, Summers, and Monroe Counties in West Virginia. The associated Oil & Gas Construction Stormwater General Permit (WVR310667) would be for the discharge of stormwater associated with the disturbance of 4,214 acres of land for the of construction of this project. The Natural Streams Preservation Act permit (NSP-17-0001) being sought is for a proposed crossing of Greenbrier River in Summers County near Pence Springs. The State 401 Water Quality Certification (WQC-16-0005) would be for activities that will or may discharge fill into waters of the State. Mountain Valley Pipeline project is proposing to mitigate for the streams and wetlands permanently impacted by this project.

Any interested person may submit written comments on the Oil & Gas Construction Stormwater General Permit, the Natural Streams Preservation Act Permit, and/or the State 401 Water Quality Certification by addressing such to the Director of the Division of Water and Waste Management during the comment period, which begins with this notice and ends on March 19, 2017 at 8PM. Comments or requests should be emailed to dep.comments@wv.gov or by mail addressed to:

Director, Division of Water and Management, DEP
ATTN: Sharon Mullins, Permitting Section
601 57th Street SE
Charleston, WV 25304-2345

Applicant Type Permit ID:

>>> Mountain Valley Pipeline, Inc., Oil & Gas Construction Stormwater General Permit WVR310667

>>> Mountain Valley Pipeline, Inc., State 401 Water Quality Certification WQC-16-0005

>>> Mountain Valley Pipeline, Inc., Natural Streams Preservation Act Permit NSP-17-0001

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Proposed MVP Route Changes

See the following links on the MVP site [https://www.mountainvalleypipeline.info/] for information related to MVP’s January 13 “letter” and table about route changes.

Topographic maps of route changes: There is a large 64-page (>30 MBs) file on the MVP site’s News & Info page under their 10/13/16 filings, which shows the original application route together with the proposed October 2016 revisions.
Attachment E – USGS 7pt5Min Topo

ROUTECOMPARISON

The blue line shows the original route and milepost #s; the red is the October 2016 revised route and milepost #s.

Parcel maps: On the Maps page, they have what should be the latest parcel maps, by county, to go with their Oct 2016 route modifications.

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Information Provided by the Greenbrier River Watershed Association, 120 W. Washington Street, Suite #4, Lewisburg, WV 24901.  See: www.greenbrier.org

Contact:  info@greenbrier.org

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