Air Pollution Control Board meeting in Richmond on Wednesday (12/19/18)

From an Article by Sara McCloskey, WRIC-ABC News 8, Richmond, VA, December 19, 2018

RICHMOND, Va. — The State Air Pollution Control Board was set to vote Wednesday on the permit for an air compressor station for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Board members are delaying making a decision so the public can comment on new information they received since their meetings last month.

A tightly packed room – divided. Demonstrators turned their backs to four members of the air board as Department of Environmental Quality officials presented some new details about the permit. (Some protestors refer to long distance pipelines thru the mountains as “snakes.”)

Some of the documents were on the demographics of people living in Buckingham County, where the compressor station is slated to go, as well as how suitable the site is for a project of this size.

Residents say Buckingham County’s Union Hill is a historic African American community, since freed slaves lived there and their families’ still have the land. (Thus, an “environmental justice” issue is under consideration.)

DEQ officials referenced studies by other agencies, like the Department of Historic Resources, which looked into the neighborhood a few years ago to see if it meets criteria to be on a register of historic places. That survey did not find enough historic evidence to put Union Hill on the map.

Mindy Zlotnick lives in Yogaville, about 5 miles away from where the Buckingham Compressor Station is proposed to be constructed. After being in the community on and off for 5 years, she questions the data collected and presented to the board about who lives there. “But actually when you get down on the ground and the numbers come out and the people come out a lot different,” Zlotnick added.

The draft permit was also amended with new language the board chair Richard Langford says makes the permit “more strict” and “was in response to public comments” they heard the month prior.

The proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) spans 600-miles from West Virginia to North Carolina. There are three compressor stations, one in each state. The one in Virginia is proposed for Buckingham County. Compressors help manage pressure and flow of natural gas through a pipeline network. Construction on the pipeline has started in West Virginia and North Carolina, according to company officials.

Dominion Energy officials say ACP is expected to bring nearly $400 million in energy cost savings to customers and $28 million dollars in local tax revenue. The company is also giving $5 million to build a new community center and outdoor recreation area for residents of Union Hill.

Northern Virginia Democrat Del. Mark Keam (D-35th District) says the project will have an impact on everyone, not just Buckingham County.

“Regardless of whether you’re from Fairfax or Halifax or Arlington or Abington this affects all of us,” Del. Keam said. “… I believe this natural gas pipeline that they’re planning is a natural disaster for us in waiting. So, I want to make sure that we do everything that can to stop it. If it does have to go through for whatever reason, you do it in the most environmentally sensitive, protected way.”

At Wednesday’s meeting, the board did not end up voting on the air permit. They will be opening up for a written public comment period soon, but a date has not been set yet. Nor has a date for a vote.

Four out of the seven board members were present at the meeting. One of the members, Roy Hoagland, will not be voting because of a conflict of interest. The other two board members, Gail Bush and Kajal Kapur, are new and it is not clear yet if they will be voting the next time they all meet for the permit.

While she’s glad the board is taking their time with this new information, Zlotnick been waiting for a decision for years on this project. “It’s just frustrating because we’re still waiting,” Zlotnick added. “Anything that affects our air and dumps all these pollutants into our air, is not going to be good for us. It’s going to change everything.”

Dominion Energy officials say they are confident the board will approve the permit “after considering all of the facts.”

In a statement, Dominion Energy spokesperson Aaron Ruby said, “We are building the Atlantic Coast Pipeline for the good of our economy and the environment, and we are committed to seeing it through to completion.”

ACP Pipeline overview in WV, VA and NC

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SEE ALSO: Air Board delays decision on Buckingham permit and plans new public comment period – Virginia Mercury, December 19, 2018

Please Comment on the US EPA Plan to Limit and Control CH4 Emissions

ACTION: Extension of comment period to December 4th

SUMMARY: On September 18, 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed rules titled, “Source Determination for Certain Emission Units in the Oil and Natural Gas Sector” and “Oil and Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New and Modified Sources.”

The EPA also announced the availability of a draft Control Techniques Guidelines (CTG) document titled, “Release of Draft Control Techniques Guidelines for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry,” in a notice published on September 18, 2015.

The EPA is extending the comment period on the proposed rules and the notice of availability of the draft CTG document that was scheduled to close on November 17, 2015 to midnight on December 4th.

DATES: The public comment period for the proposed rules and notice of availability of the CTG document published in the Federal Register on September 18, 2015 (80 FR 56579, 80 FR 56593, 80 FR 56553 and 80 FR 56577), is being extended. Written comments must be received on or before December 4, 2015.

ADDRESSES: The EPA has established separate dockets for each of the three proposed rulemakings and the draft CTG document (available at http://www.regulations.gov).

>>> For the proposed rulemaking titled, “Source Determination for Certain Emission Units in the Oil and Natural Gas Sector,” the Docket ID No. is EPA-HQ-OAR-2013-0685.

>>> For the proposed rulemaking titled, “Oil and Natural Gas Sector: Emission Standards for New and Modified Sources,” the Docket ID No. is EPA-HQ-OAR-2010-0505.

>>> For the notice of availability titled, “Release of Draft Control Techniques Guidelines for the Oil and Natural Gas Industry,” the Docket ID No. is EPA-HQ-OAR-2015-0216.
Information on all of these actions is posted at http://www.epa.gov/airquality/oilandgas/actions.html.

Submit your comments, identified by the appropriate Docket ID, to the Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once submitted, comments cannot be edited or withdrawn. The EPA may publish any comment received to its public docket.

Do not submit electronically any information you consider to be Confidential Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. If you need to include CBI as part of your comment, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/dockets/comments.html for instructions.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For additional information on this action, contact Cheryl Vetter, Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Environmental Protection Agency (C504-03), Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27711; telephone number (919) 541- 4391; fax number (919) 541-5509; email address: vetter.cheryl@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
After considering the requests to extend the public comment period received from various trade and business organizations, states and tribes, the EPA has decided to extend the public comment period until December 4, 2015. This extension will ensure that the public has additional time to review the proposed rules and the draft CTG document.

Stephen D. Page, Director, Office of Air Quality Planning & Standards, US EPA