Environmental assessments and protection lacking ...

From an Article by Jonathan Sokolow, Blue Virginia, May 28, 2018

In recent weeks, Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) started tree clearing and ground preparation for its proposed 42-inch, 303-mile fracked natural gas pipeline running from West Virginia through Virginia. Almost immediately, reports emerged that MVP and its contractor, Precision Pipeline, LLC were wreaking havoc on Virginia’s water and land resources. Photos and video evidence clearly showed that Precision Pipeline, a Wisconsin company, had no idea how to deal with the springtime mountain rains that typify southwest Virginia, leading to landslides, mud on roads and sediment pollution in creeks and streams. And this massive construction project has only just begun.

Activists are screaming “we told you so” because they have been saying for four years that the Mountain Valley Pipeline cannot be safely built in the mountainous regions of southwest Virginia. Local residents, with growing support from around the Commonwealth, have been arguing that construction of this pipeline alone would create permanent damage to the forests, creeks, streams, springs, and rivers on which hundreds of thousands of people depend for their drinking water. This does not even begin to account for the additional harm that the fracked gas’ methane and other pollutants themselves would cause to our environment. State officials have all but ignored these concerns.

The evidence of Precision Pipeline’s incompetence in the initial stages of this project is mounting, as shown here. In fact, a new Facebook page was just created to catalogue the daily damage being inflicted.

It has gotten so bad that even the weak and/or incompetent Virginia Department of Environmental Quality was forced to concede that one of these incidents was “clearly unacceptable,” leading to an order temporarily stopping construction at a site in Franklin County.

It turns out that someone else is saying we told you so: Dominion Resources. Yes, THAT Dominion Resources.

It turns out that Dominion’s wholly owned subsidiary, Dominion Transmission, Inc. (“DTI”) has been fighting Precision Pipeline in federal court for almost three years in a battle royale over a pipeline that Precision built for Dominion several years ago in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. That fracked gas pipeline, which was part of Dominion’s larger Appalachian Gateway Project, was a relatively small 30 inches in diameter and “only” 55-miles long. The case is pending in federal court in Richmond and is expected to go to trial in October.

Precision completed and was paid for the project – and then sued Dominion for $86 million in additional charges that it claims it is owed. Dominion denies it owes anything more and points, in part, to a series of expert reports that it says document Precision’s incompetence in building the pipeline.

In one of those reports, never before released but published here for the first time (see below), an engineering firm hired by Dominion details a long and terrifying account of Precision Pipeline’s incompetence when it comes to causing landslides during pipeline construction.

Yes, landslides. Thirteen of them. In a 55-mile pipeline project. With a 30-inch pipe. In non-mountainous terrain.

The expert report, prepared by Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc. (“CEC”) an engineering firm hired by Dominion’s law firm, McGuireWoods LLP, shows the following:

· At least thirteen landslides occurred during construction of the pipeline built by Precision for the Appalachian Gateway Project. Each of these landslides is meticulously documented in the expert report:
. “Precision was aware the project was located in an area with landslide risks and, knowing this…did not employ appropriate construction methods to reduce the number of landslides that occurred. As a result, a greater number of landslides occurred on the ROW [Right of Way] and Precision’s refusal to repair them resulted in DTI incurring the cost of repair.”
· “Fill placed by Precision in some areas contained unsuitable materials (e.g., elevated organics), and fill was not adequately compacted to provide soil stability….”
· “Knowing that there was a risk of landslides developing, Precision failed to employ earthwork methods in accordance with industry standards…. Landslides occurred due to failure to install subsurface drains in high-risk or seepage areas, failure to provide adequate surface water controls, failure to remove wood chips and other organic debris from fill slope areas, failure to properly construct ESC features, and failure to adequately compact fill.”

These are not the words of activists, or tree sitters, or affected landowners. These are the words of an engineering firm hired by Dominion! Virginia’s DEQ has turned a deaf ear to local residents who have been screaming for this project to stop and stop now.

Governor Northam has ignored tree sitters who have placed their bodies in the path of the pipeline. He has refused to honor his own campaign promise – made on video – that DEQ would do a stream-by-stream analysis of this pipeline before construction proceeds. And he has broken another campaign promise – also caught on video – that he and his wife would hold “focus groups” to address local concerns.

Meanwhile, state officials have ignored the pleas of more than one dozen elected officialsand Democratic committees who say that the Mountain Valley Pipeline (as well as the much larger Atlantic Coast Pipeline) should be stopped.

Maybe these state officials will listen to Dominion? Maybe they will be swayed by the arguments of McGuire Woods, Dominion’s attorneys, who many consider to be Virginia’s “shadow government.”

Thirteen landslides in a 55-mile project. The Mountain Valley Pipeline is almost six times that length. Do the math. And that’s just landslides.

What about sediment in streams? What about damage to farmland, damage to drinking water, damage to tourism in some of the most pristine areas of Virginia and the resulting damage to property values and the local economy.

So Governor Northam – and I cannot believe I am writing these words – maybe on this one you should listen to Dominion! Stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline before Virginia’s future – and your legacy – are drowned in a muddy landslide.

It’s never too late to do the right thing.

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MORATORIUM ON NEW GAS INFRASTRUCTURE INCLUDED IN DRAFT STATEMENT FROM ADVISORY COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s Advisory Council on Environmental Justice reached consensus May 30 on a draft statement recommending a moratorium on new gas infrastructure in the Commonwealth and calling for a stream-by-stream assessment of the impact of both the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines.

The advisory council, created by former Gov. Terry McAuliffe in 2017, also said the placing of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s compressor station in Union Hill, a historic African-American community in Buckingham County, exhibits racism and maintained that the human rights of protestors — including those who have engaged in tree sits — are being violated by state and local law enforcement officials as well as the U.S. Forestry Service.

Consensus on a final draft will be worked out quickly, members said, and the language could be modified. No timetable has been set, but council members said it was important to finalize their recommendations before decisions are made by other regulatory bodies. When completed, the recommendations will be sent to Gov. Northam.

The council held its May 30 meeting in Buckingham County to give members a first-hand view of areas that will be impacted by the ACP and compressor station. It also heard concerns expressed by about 30 people during a public comment period. Matt Strickler, Secretary of Natural Resources, joined the council for its meeting.

~~ Robert Dilday, co-director, Interfaith Alliance for Climate Justice

— in Buckingham, Virginia on May 31, 2018

Pipeline work to begin soon in Upshur County, WV

News Article from The Inter-Mountain, Elkins, WV, May 30, 2018

BUCKHANNON — Upshur County will soon see a large influx in people as pipeliners and contractors head to the area to begin construction work on the 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline, officials said.
Mike Cozad, ACP community liaison, provided the Upshur County Commission an update on the project during the most recent commission meeting.

Cozad said the ACP received a Notice to Proceed from FERC, and has “full blown” authority to begin construction work in West Virginia in areas where trees have been cleared.

“In the next few weeks you should see a huge influx of folks here to start getting that work underway,” Cozad told commissioners. “The hotels will be filled. The restaurants will be filled and all the things that go with that.”

Step one will begin in the next couple of weeks with access roads being upgraded to where workers can get into the right of ways to begin the clearing, Cozad noted.

In terms of actually breaking ground, he said, “It’ll be awhile before we actually get graders out there and dozers out there to start creating the actual right of ways and be able to trench it … “

Cozad said, optimistically speaking, the ground work will begin in six to eight weeks, adding “You’re probably looking at a July time frame for that …”

During the weekly commission meeting, a question was posed to Cozad regarding a federal appeals court nullifying a key permit for the project. The Washington Post reports that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had failed to set clear limits for impact on threatened or endangered species.

“There’s a federal judge in Virginia that issued a decree … He found fault with some of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife clearances that we got as part of the process of getting our FERC permit,” explained Cozad. “He was apparently not satisfied with the extent of the specificity of what fish and wildlife had put into the system, so he basically declared that part of it invalid, invalidated it and it needs to be updated again …”

He continued, “I’m sure U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Dominion are working on that aspect to get that updated and correct to meet the judge’s satisfaction.”

Cozad said the decision will not stall the progression of the ACP.

“FERC issued a statement … saying there will be no downtime as a result of that judge’s decision,” he said.

Jen Kostyniuk, director of Dominion Energy Communications, issued a statement saying, “On May 16, 2018, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) requested that ACP file documentation that specifically identifies the habitat areas that will be avoided with respect to the species listed within the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Incidental Take Statement and confirm our commitment to avoid construction in these areas.”

According to the release, the court’s action only affects those areas of pipeline construction where endangered species or their habitats may be present.

“We will continue to move forward with construction as scheduled and fully comply as required with all permits and agency requirements. We remain committed to taking all reasonable measures to protect the environment and the species while ensuring progress on a project that is essential to the economic and environmental well-being of the region,”reads the statement.

### – Submitted by: Cat McCue / Communications Director / Appalachian Voices, cat@appvoices.org /

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General Notice: DEQ WEBSITE DOWN – Public Notice – Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) Projects – State Water Control Board Request for Technical Information on Specific Wetland and/or Stream Crossings
Date Posted: 5/25/2018, Expiration Date: 7/15/2018

On April 27, 2018, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) posted notice of a request for technical information on the sufficiency of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) Nationwide Permit (NWP) 12′s general and regional conditions, the Corps’ permit authorization and the Commonwealth’s §401 water quality certification of NWP 12 related to specific wetland or stream crossings for both the MVP and ACP projects. The comment period was set for May 1, 2018, through May 30, 2018.

On May 22, 2018, the DEQ website went down. While, the submittal of comments is not affected; i.e., the mechanisms to submit comments are still available, website availability of the documents under review is not currently available. Therefore the public comment period will be extended. The exact date of the deadline will be based on when the website is back on line and will be announced on the website and again through the Town Hall.

The text of the original announcement, which includes working links to the email addresses for submittal of technical information or questions, is available at: http://townhall.virginia.gov/L/ViewNotice.cfm?gnid=828

Contact Information:
Name / Title: Office of Public Information
Virginia State Water Contril Board
1111 East Main Street, Suite 1400
P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, 23218
Email Address: deqpublicinfo@deq.virginia.gov
Telephone: (804)698-4000

McAuliffe: Virginia will regulate carbon emissions; ‘the threat of climate change is real’

From an Article by Robert Zullo, Richmond Times – Dispatch, May 16, 2017

Gov. Terry McAuliffe today directed the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to begin assembling regulations to reduce carbon emissions from Virginia power plants, a move that was celebrated by environmentalists and renewable energy businesses who see the state as a laggard when it comes to solar and wind capacity and energy-efficiency programs.

Virginia Republicans, however, condemned the Democratic governor’s carbon directive as overreach that would raise electric prices and hamper economic growth.

“The threat of climate change is real, and we have a shared responsibility to confront it. Once approved, this regulation will reduce carbon-dioxide emissions from the commonwealth’s power plants and give rise to the next generation of energy jobs,” the governor said in a statement. “As the federal government abdicates its role on this important issue, it is critical for states to fill the void. Beginning today, Virginia will lead the way to cut carbon and lean in on the clean-energy future.”

Though it does not lay out the 30 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 that environmental groups wanted, McAuliffe’s executive directive instructs the DEQ to develop a proposed regulation for the State Air Pollution Control Board to abate, control or limit carbon dioxide from power plants that will “allow for the use of market-based mechanisms and the trading of carbon dioxide allowances through a multi-state trading program.” The proposed regulation is due to be presented to the board by Dec. 31, just before McAuliffe leaves office.

Last summer, McAuliffe convened by executive order a working group consisting of cabinet officials and leaders of the state Department of Environmental Quality and Department Mines, Minerals and Energy to develop recommendations on cutting carbon from power plants. The market-based carbon trading aspect was a key component of the group’s report, which was sent to the governor last week.

Dominion Energy, the state’s largest utility, has recently pointed to its own emission reductions, a push toward developing new solar installations and acceptance of carbon regulation as “settled public policy.”

“Dominion has been preparing for carbon regulation for some time now and appreciates being a part of the stakeholder engagement process,” spokesman David Botkins said, adding that the company’s two new gas-fired power plants in Brunswick and Greensville counties are subject to some of the strictest carbon-dioxide limits “on record.”

Environmental groups, who were some of the largest contributors to his 2013 campaign, hailed McAuliffe’s move as strong climate leadership in the face of a March executive order by President Donald Trump aimed at unwinding the Clean Power Plan, former President Barack Obama’s signature regulation aimed at cutting emissions from power plants. Trump’s order was seen as a death blow for the plan, which has been stalled in federal courts.

“This bold action demonstrates that when Washington fumbles and falls, with the right leadership, the states can lead,” said attorney Will Cleveland of the Southern Environmental Law Center in Charlottesville. “Hopefully Gov. McAuliffe’s actions today will inspire policymakers in other states to follow a similar course.”

The Virginia Conservation Network, a consortium of more than 100 environmental groups that includes the law center as well as the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club and Appalachian Voices, called McAuliffe’s directive “the largest step taken in the United States to tackle climate change since President Trump took office.”

“Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, especially when it comes to its devastating impacts on Virginia’s most vulnerable communities,” said Mary Rafferty, the network’s executive director. “It is imperative that every level of government steps up to be a part of the solution.”

The Republican Party of Virginia, however, was less impressed. “Governor McAuliffe’s executive order is the worst kind of virtue signaling,” spokesman David D’Onofrio said. He criticized Obama’s Clean Power Plan as an expensive and ineffectual measure that he said would have reduced global temperatures by .015 degrees while increasing electricity costs by billions.

“If reducing emissions for the entire country gets .015 degrees, how much less would a Virginia-only plan do? D’Onofrio said. “Meanwhile the free market has led to significant year-over-year reduction in CO2 emissions in the U.S. Terry McAuliffe’s decision to ”resist’ common-sense environmental policy will drive up prices for consumers, cost Virginians jobs and make it even more difficult to grow our economy.”

Environmentalists argued that the final Clean Power Plan rule was too soft on Virginia and that opponents greatly overstated the cost of compliance. Dominion itself filed a legal brief in support of the plan, saying that “effects on power plants and customers can be successfully managed” provided that the rule allows market-based compliance measures, such as emissions trading, and allowed states to create flexible timelines.

“The rule is compatible with long-term industry trends influenced by market conditions and prior environmental regulations,” the company wrote.

Channing Martin, chairman of law firm Williams Mullen’s environmental and natural resources section, called the directive an aggressive move for the final year of McAuliffe’s term. “They’re going to have to get cracking to get that thing done,” he said. “It will be a significant rulemaking and it is no question going to be challenged at every opportunity.”

And though Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring issued an opinion last week that the air board can regulate carbon under its existing authority, Martin predicts that the issue will surface again.

“The question will be does the board on its own have the ability to promulgate these regulations or does the General Assembly have to pass legislation to authorize it?” he said. “There’s going to be many parties participating in it and it’s going to result in litigation. If any regulations get enacted it will be after the governor leaves office.”

Virginia House of Delegates Speaker William J. Howell, R-Stafford, who is retiring, said McAuliffe’s directive is “a broad assertion of regulatory authority, Washington-esque in both its nature and scope” that ignores the legislative process.

Existing Natural Gas Transmission Lines

The Existing Natural Gas Pipeline Infrastructure in Virginia is Adequate

Guest Column by Thomas Hadwin, Augusta County Alliance (VA), February 2017

Dominion and its partners in the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) have made what appears on the surface to be an enticing proposal. They have said that we need a greater supply of natural gas in Virginia to fuel our power plants and our economy. The developers say they must build a 600-mile pipeline to make this possible and that the pipeline will provide many jobs and financial benefits. They ask us to take their word that this is the best option and that they should receive rapid approval with little review in order to get the project underway so that it will be available in time.

Upon inspection, we find that the first power plant that requires a new supply of natural gas in Virginia is not scheduled for operation until 2022, the next major one is proposed for 2030. So what is the rush? We have plenty of time for thorough deliberation of the options.

If the ACP is approved, Dominion claims that thousands of jobs and millions of dollars will benefit the states through which the pipeline will pass. A developer of a similar pipeline through West Virginia and Virginia has admitted that it is likely that just 10% of the workers will come from the area in which the pipeline is built. This means that just a few hundred workers are likely to be hired from West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina rather than the thousands that have been advertised. No matter where the workers live, the ACP has informed FERC that the typical pipeline job will last just 8-10 months.

Most of the skilled workers will come from other regions in the U.S. and will send their paychecks home. The main period of pipeline construction in any one area will last just 6-8 weeks. This is not long enough to require area businesses to add more long term employees or for the money to circulate throughout the local economy. Only businesses such as motels, gas stations, bars, fast food restaurants and convenience stores are likely to benefit, and then just for a short time. According to the ACP all but perhaps 5% of the construction material will be purchased from outside the 3-state region.

The economic models that were used to create the millions of dollars of projected benefits were developed for situations considerably different from pipeline construction and vastly overestimate the benefits to our local economies.

The tax benefits accruing to local jurisdictions along the pipeline route are stated as if they are a net addition to local government coffers. Recent studies show there might not be any net tax benefit. The added property value of the pipeline will be offset by reduced property values for the many parcels on or adjacent to the pipeline right-of-way. Loss of tourism income, lower economic development, and other costs could overwhelm pipeline tax revenues and other purported benefits of the pipeline. Developers have painted an image of economic windfalls. But according to an economic study, just four of the counties through which the Atlantic pipeline will pass in Virginia could experience long-term economic losses greater than the cost of the pipeline.

The ACP is intended primarily to transport natural gas for power plants. The traditional residential and commercial uses of natural gas for water and space heating are expected to be essentially flat through 2040. The ACP is a wholesale pipeline for large users such as utilities, not for supporting the growth of communities and businesses along its path.

The need for additional natural gas supply in Virginia is to fuel new gas-fired power plants. Finding ways not to use energy (energy efficiency) is far cheaper than building a new gas-fired power plant and saves all ratepayers money when the peak load is reduced. Solar power, which does not require any fuel, is now cost-competitive with new gas-fired plants. The cost of solar is decreasing by half every 4-5 years and will undercut the cost of the new gas-fired plants within the first decade of their operation. But assuming more gas supply to Virginia is needed, the question remains – is the ACP the best means to supply it?

Two new gas-fired combined cycle plants are being built in Southside Virginia. The Brunswick facility began operation in the summer of 2016, the Greensville plant is proposed for 2019. A connection to the Transco pipeline was completed in September 2015 and will serve these two plants for an investment of $490 million. Dominion has said that it prefers to use the ACP to provide the gas supply to these plants. The cost of transporting gas to these two plants using the ACP is 3 times higher than using the existing connection to Transco. This will cost Dominion’s ratepayers more than $200 million per year in higher fuel transportation costs. Costs to ratepayers will increase by hundreds of millions per year for every new power plant that is connected to the ACP instead of much cheaper existing pipelines.

The ACP developers say that they have long-term commitments from customers wanting to receive natural gas from the Atlantic pipeline and these commitments are adequate to prove that the ACP is necessary. All but one of the identified customers is a subsidiary of the same holding companies that own the developers of the pipeline. Such agreements are often used by developers to gain approval to construct a new pipeline and are not indications of the actual market demand for a project.

Since the gas transport fee is part of the fuel cost and is automatically passed through to ratepayers, should Dominion and Duke be allowed to force the customers of their utility subsidiaries to pay for more for gas transportation via the ACP even if it is much more expensive than other alternatives?

The ACP developers say the Atlantic pipeline is the only realistic alternative, but that is seldom the case. If the Dominion’s utility subsidiary (Dominion Virginia Power) was free to choose or if they were directed by the SCC to select the lowest cost choice for reliable natural gas supply, what might that be?

The ACP has advertised that it will save Virginian’s hundreds of millions per year because of a price differential existing between Marcellus natural gas and gas prices in Louisiana. This gap has considerably closed since this calculation was made, but it is not the correct comparison. Existing pipelines serving Virginia and North Carolina are also supplied by Marcellus gas. Either from a similar location in West Virginia as is used by the ACP, or from the cheapest and by far the most productive natural gas zone in the nation in northeastern Pennsylvania.

These existing pipelines have access to multiple production zones, offering many locations from which to source the cheapest natural gas; including the low-cost gas available from the Gulf Coast in the summertime, which is important to power plants during their season of highest demand. The ACP has access to these supplies only by connecting to existing pipelines. Existing pipelines have this advantage without needing the ACP. The ACP only shares this advantage by connecting to what already exists.

Much of the Marcellus production can now directly serve demand centers in the northeast. Traditionally, most of the gas traveled from south to north from the Texas and Gulf Coast supply zones using pipelines in the Transco corridor to serve markets along the east coast. With much of the northeast demand supplied directly from the Marcellus, significant capacity in the Transco corridor is now available to bring natural gas from the Marcellus to Virginia and the Carolinas. Reversal of flow in the Transco system plus low-cost and low-impact expansion of the Columbia Gas system will provide several times the capacity of the ACP to Virginia and the Carolinas. This is the plan identified in reports published by the Department of Energy in 2015. The DOE says that this usage of existing pipelines is sufficient to serve the demand in the region through 2040, even in the high gas usage scenario.

Adding capacity to the Columbia Gas system could provide greater supply to the Chesapeake, Virginia region as well. The main Columbia Gas line feeds the AGL (Virginia Natural Gas) line which supplies the Chesapeake/Norfolk area. Although modifications or a new segment of pipeline might be required, additional natural gas supplies could be provided to the Chesapeake area with far less cost and impacts than is associated with the ACP.

Adding several times the capacity of the ACP in the Transco and Columbia Gas pipelines provides Virginia with a multitude of options for siting new gas-fired plants when (and if) they are needed. Compare the coverage of the Transco and Columbia pipelines in Virginia to a single corridor for the Atlantic pipeline. This would provide a great deal of flexibility for growth and development in Virginia without the disruption from new pipeline construction.

Existing pipelines, which are cheaper because they have been largely paid for by previous customers, will provide gas supply to Virginia and North Carolina at same the locations proposed for the ACP. Power plants planned for North Carolina could connect over the same last 90 miles of the corridor planned for the ACP by connecting to the Transco mainline running through North Carolina with about 100 miles of new pipeline built on the existing Cardinal right-of-way. Costs and impacts of using existing pipelines to serve Virginia and North Carolina would be far less than with the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

Developers of the ACP might argue that they do not possess firm reservations for capacity using existing pipelines as they do by utilizing a pipeline that they own. The natural gas producers in the Marcellus are eager to find committed long-term markets to supply with their surplus production. This is the very best time to obtain commitments for low cost supplies. If the ACP were not to be approved, the proposed customers of the Atlantic pipeline would find many willing suppliers, if their demand truly exists.

One can see that Dominion and its partners would prefer to own the supply pipeline to their captive utilities. There are business advantages to paying themselves more rather than paying someone else less to transport the natural gas. However, the benefits accrue only to them. Ratepayers would pay higher transport fees for the ACP compared to existing pipelines; Virginia would have a poorer infrastructure for future economic development and power plant siting; public and private landowners would suffer greatly from the impacts of unnecessary new pipeline construction.

The spirit of eminent domain is to require a landowner to sacrifice their individual interest in order to serve the greater public good. In this case, the greater public good is better served both economically and environmentally by using existing pipelines. No rights to eminent domain should be granted to developers of the ACP. The pipeline is purely for private gain rather than for the greater public good.

The superiority of the option of using existing pipelines applies to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and to the Mountain Valley Pipeline, the Appalachian Connector and any other major new pipeline construction project intended to bring natural gas from the Marcellus into the Virginia and North Carolina markets.

We ask that the land, the landowners, and ratepayers of Virginia be respected by selecting the clearly superior option of using existing pipelines to supply the future natural gas needs of Virginia. Dominion and other Virginia utilities are needed for the important role of developing a more reliable and resilient grid for the 21st century that easily accommodates decentralized solar and wind projects which they or other parties develop. Dominion should seek out projects that benefit the ratepayers and residents of Virginia, as well as their shareholders. Setting the interests of shareholders against the interests of customers is not good for any business in the long run. There are numerous other important energy projects where Dominion can work for the good of all Virginians.

About Thomas Hadwin — Thomas Hadwin worked for electric and gas utilities in Michigan and New York. He led a department which was responsible for the site selection and approval of multi-billion dollar projects working with state and federal agencies, as well as assuring that all company facilities complied with existing environmental regulations. He and his team worked closely with federal agencies to craft a first-of-its-kind process for the approval of a special project. He founded a computer and telecommunications business about which the Wall Street Journal wrote an article describing its innovative business model. As a “healer of businesses,” he helped ailing companies throughout the U.S. get back on their feet. He is also an educator at the high school and college level and an artisan baker.

Cove Point Protest Rally

Don’t Let Cove Point Slip into the Dark Side!

Letter to Maryland Residents and Friends in the Region

On May 4th, we’re asking as many people as possible to join in resistance to the Cove Point  Terminal and call Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s office to insist that he order a public and thorough safety study for the fracked gas export terminal Dominion is building in the community of Cove Point, Maryland — and we want him to order a halt in construction while the safety study is performed!

In 2006, a detailed safety study called a quantitative risk assessment (QRA) was conducted on the then-import terminal at Cove Point. A QRA is a study that looks at what could go wrong with a facility in the event of an accident, and determines the proper emergency responses.

Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources commissioned the 2006 QRA at the behest of the nuclear plant that is three miles from Cove Point. Using pro-industry data and a pro-industry company to conduct the actual study, alarming results still came to light — including that everybody living within 0.8 miles of the mostly dormant import terminal (around 1,000 people) faced the constant risk of being consumed in a flash fire at any point. What are the risks after a $3.8 billion, three-year-long construction project that adds a full-scale power plant, a liquefaction train, some 410,000 gallons of propane stored on site, and many other dangerous factors? We don’t know.

Dominion has been allowed to get away with minimal safety testing that doesn’t look at the actual scope of the threats placed on the tens of thousands of people living around this terminal — and even that hasn’t been released publicly. Instead, information on potential peril facing this community is hidden behind non-disclosure agreements and back-room deals. Politicians who are too eager to take Dominion’s money at all costs have abandoned their constituents. It’s high time that the one person who can order a QRA safety study by simply commanding it, Governor Hogan, do so — and halt construction while the study is conducted to give it the time it needs.

Other Dominion facilities have seen fatal explosions, other fuel facilities in southern Maryland have seen fatal explosions, and this exact facility had a fatal explosion in 1979! The lives and well-being of tens of thousands of people are worth more than the money Dominion is adding to the local coffers! We need Governor Hogan to order this safety study immediately!

Call Governor Hogan’s office at: (410) 974-3901

If you haven’t yet, please sign our online petition at bit.ly/qranow. More information about the need for a safety study is there, as well.

Thank you for helping to protect our community — and, by extension, all of the other communities affected by gas infrastructure that would help bring gas to Cove Point to be exported!

May the 4th be with you!

Thank you,  ”Dont Frack Maryland” and “We Are Cove Point”

See website: “Don’t Frack Maryland”

See also this one: “We Are Cove Point”

Photos can't do justice to MVP & ACP damages

New research exposes how Dominion’s proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline would decapitate 38 miles of ridgelines in VA and WV

Press Release from Chesapeake Climate Network & Friends of Nelson County, April 27, 2017

Richmond, VA — A briefing paper released today details how Dominion Resources intends to blast away, excavate, and partially remove entire mountaintops along 38 miles of Appalachian ridgelines as part of the construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. 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.

Furthermore, 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.

“In light of the discovery that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline will cause 10 to 60 feet of mountaintops to be removed from 38 miles of Appalachian ridges, there is nothing left to debate,” said Mike Tidwell, Executive Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “Dominion’s pipeline will cause irrevocable harm to the region’s environmental resources. With Clean Water Act certifications pending in both Virginia and West Virginia, we call on Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe and West Virginia Governor Jim Justice to reject this destructive pipeline.”

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 (MVP) led by the company EQT Midstream Partners, LP.

“The Atlantic Coast Pipeline could easily prove itself deadly,” said Joyce Burton, Board Member of Friends of Nelson. “Many of the slopes along the right of way are significantly steeper than a black diamond ski slope. Both FERC and Dominion concede that constructing pipelines on these steep slopes can increase the potential for landslides, yet they still have not demonstrated how they propose to protect us from this risk. With all of this, it is clear that this pipeline is a recipe for disaster.”

The briefing paper released today was prepared by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network in coordination with the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance, Friends of Nelson, Appalachian Mountain Advocates, and the Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition. It cites data from the Draft Environmental Impact Statement prepared by the Federal Energy Regulatory Council (FERC) as well as information supplied to FERC by Dominion. It also compiles information from GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping software and independent reports prepared by engineers and soil scientists.

Key findings include:

>>· Approximately 38 miles of mountains in West Virginia and Virginia will see 10 feet or more of their ridgetops removed in order to build the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

>>· This figure includes 19 miles in West Virginia and 19 miles in Virginia.

>>· The majority of these mountains would be flattened by 10 to 20 feet, with some places along the route requiring the removal of 60 feet or more of ridgetop.

>>· Building the ACP on top of these mountains will result in a tremendous quantity of excess material, known to those familiar with mountaintop removal as “overburden.”

>>· Dominion would likely need to dispose of 2.47 million cubic yards of overburden, from just these 38 miles alone.

>>· Standard-size, fully loaded dump trucks would need to take at least 247,000 trips to haul this material away from the construction site.

“It is astounding that FERC has not required Dominion to produce a plan for dealing with the millions of cubic yards of excess spoil that will result from cutting down miles of ridgetop for the pipeline,” said Ben Luckett, Staff Attorney at Appalachian Mountain Advocates. “We know from experience with mountaintop removal coal mining that the disposal of this material has devastating impacts on the headwater streams that are the lifeblood our rivers and lakes. FERC and Dominion’s complete failure to address this issue creates a significant risk that the excess material will ultimately end up in our waterways, smothering aquatic life and otherwise degrading water quality. Without an in-depth analysis of exactly how much spoil will be created and how it can be safely disposed of, the states cannot possibly certify that this pipeline project will comply with the Clean Water Act.”

“Even with Dominion’s refusal to provide the public with adequate information, the situation is clear: The proposed construction plan will have massive impacts to scenic vistas, terrestrial and aquatic habitats, and potentially to worker and resident safety,” said Dan Shaffer, Spatial Analyst with the Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition. “There is no way around it. It’s a bad route, a bad plan, and should never have been seriously considered.”

Evidence shows that this  project is OPPOSITE of “environmentally friendly” and States must reject it.

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

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

>> Joyce Burton, Friends of Nelson, 434-361-2328, joybirdpt@gmail.com

The full briefing paper is available here.

MVP & ACP to disturb mountains, rivers & streams

Atlantic Coast Pipeline — Blast Radius – Evacuation Zone

Review by S. Tom Bond, Resident Farmer, Lewis County, WV, May 14, 2016

Below is a summary of a really great piece of work from the Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition! It is in splendid detail, it is clear as a bell, and it is easy to understand. I say that it is really, really great.

The proposed  42 inch Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) runs through Lewis County (WV) about 3 (three) miles southwest of my property. Just west of us a few miles is a place where the Mountain Valley Pipeline and The Momentum Gathering Pipeline box in the tree farm of Tom Berlin, a retired Environmental Science professor, formerly at Alderson-Broaddus College.

Monday I am leading about 20 Virginia Tech students over an area close to Tom Berlin’s to see the present Lightburn Station and will point out the location of the proposed Hollick Station of ACP. It is the first on what is called the ACP, but a large diameter pipe extends northwest of it. Dominion paid $3M for a smallish farm for it, a place where the only reasonable use is fox hunting, it is so grown up. It is not marked on the map, but I can provide a screen grab of the location, along the Harrison-Lewis line near Lightburn Station, which shows up clearly.

I am going to talk about externalized costs, a term used in economics for the costs to others resulting from the project, such things as medical expenses, property damages, injuries to adjacent enterprises, and costs which must be born by government, etc. I think environment impacts will be covered well by others at other points. Being a property owner, I am acutely aware of externalized costs, and they falsify the cost benefit ratios used to justify this kind of project.

>  >  >  >  >  >  >  >  >

On 5/14/16 , Rick Webb wrote:

It has been suggested that FERC might be responsive to concerns about the impact of the proposed ACP on human safety and property values, and that maps showing the extent of the blast radius and the evacuation zone might be effective in communicating such concerns.

Here is a quick guide to using the DPMC’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline – Environmental Mapping System to create maps showing the blast radius and evacuation zone in relation to areas of interest and concern. Screen shots are very informative as attachments.

(1) Go to the DPMC website, www.pipelineupdate.org.

Select ACP-ENVIRONMENTAL MAPPING SYSTEM in the right-hand sidebar. You will see the pipeline route alternatives in the region from the beginning of the pipeline in WV to Buckingham County in VA. This initial map view displays the route alternatives submitted to FERC on 10/30/15, 4/15/16, and 5/6/16. (see ACP-EMS-1)

(2) Display the part of the map and the layers of interest.

Zoom in and pan using the mouse and/or on-screen controls. Select the icons at the upper right to change the base map and select layers to display. The example shows the Stuarts Draft area, with a US Topo Map base map, The selected layers are the 4/15/16 ACP route and the Blast Radius and Evacuation Zone. The transparency of the Blast Radius and Evacuation Zone has been adjusted. (see STUARTS DRAFT)

Note that clicking on map features (such as the Blast Radius and Evacuation Zone) opens popup windows that provide information about the selected feature. Also note that some layers are not displayed at all map scales.

(3) Print or save your map.

The online mapping system provides options for adding text to map views and printing or saving as a pdf. Another option is to capture a screen shot of the map that can be edited in another program. (see STUARTS DRAFT MAP PRINTOUT)

****

Finally, note that the ACP-Environmental Mapping System includes many other layers and base map options. Another example  is focused on the Wintergreen/Spruce Creek area of Nelson County in Virginia. In this view property parcels are displayed. By zooming-in further the impact to individual properties can be highlighted. (see WINTERGREEN-SPRUCE CREEK)

Rick Webb, Coordinator
Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition
rwebb.dpmc@gmail.com

Clyde Thompson, US Forest Service

Forest Service accuses Atlantic Coast Pipeline of misrepresentation in soil surveys

From an Article by Michael Martz, Richmond Times-Dispatch, November 6, 2015

The U.S. Forest Service has accused the Atlantic Coast Pipeline of misrepresenting the qualifications of contractors hired to conduct soil surveys that are critical to evaluating the safety of extending the proposed natural gas pipeline through national forests in Virginia and West Virginia.

Dominion and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline issued a statement Friday that promised a new and expanded soil survey by qualified soil scientists and other professionals, but denied any misrepresentation of who had been involved in the earlier work.

The Forest Service filed a detailed account with federal regulators on Thursday that alleges the pipeline company, led by Richmond-based Dominion Transmission Inc., conducted the surveys in early October before determining the protocols for the work, notifying the Forest Service that they were about to begin, or ensuring that qualified soil scientists would collect the samples.

After the company provided résumés of the survey crew in mid-October, the Forest Service determined that the only person qualified to do the work had not actually been hired or used to collect soil samples, according to a 22-page letter from Forest Service Supervisor Clyde Thompson to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Dominion spokesman Aaron Ruby said that “while many of the concerns expressed by Mr. Thompson in his letter are the result of miscommunication or misunderstanding between both parties, Dominion strongly objects to the assertion that our company or our contractors deliberately misrepresented the role of any of the field surveyors involved in our soil survey program. This assertion is false.”

Ruby said it would document its position in a formal response to the Forest Service letter.

“Dominion is committed to working with the (Forest Service) to conduct a thorough, comprehensive and robust soil survey program that meets the Forest Service’s standards and allows for a full evaluation of the project’s impact on (Forest Service) lands,” he said in an emailed statement. “Dominion is confident this new program will satisfy the agency’s requirements.”

The Forest Service letter raised concerns about the validity of data submitted on behalf of the pipeline, a $5 billion project that would extend from the shale fields of northern West Virginia to the Atlantic coast of Virginia and North Carolina.

The agency included documentation to show that the pipeline developer “misrepresented the résumé of one field personnel and falsely attributed survey results to qualified field personnel, and misrepresented the Forest Service’s requirements for protocols and qualifications of field personnel to its consultants, as identified by the person whose résumé was misrepresented.”

Thompson, supervisor for the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia, informed the FERC that the Forest Service “cannot use the results of these soils surveys to evaluate project effects on (National Forest Service) lands.”

The letter ignited strong protests from opponents of the pipeline, which would extend through 10 Virginia localities. “To me, this is bigger than just incompetence,” said Nancy Sorrells, co-chair of the Augusta County Alliance. “This is just deceit.”

The pipeline is proposed through about 30 miles of national forest — the Monongahela in West Virginia and the George Washington in western Virginia. The Forest Service expressed frustration to federal energy regulators earlier this year over what it said was difficulty in getting answers from the pipeline company and submitted more than 300 requests for additional information.

The Forest Service also objected to a proposal to extend the pipeline through the mountain habitat of two threatened species of salamander, which prompted the company to propose last week a route variation through the Monongahela forest and a plan to drill through Shenandoah Mountain between Highland and Augusta counties instead of going over it.

The dispute over the soil surveys has been building since midsummer, according to documents included in the Forest Service letter, which said the agency’s staff had raised concern with pipeline officials in early July over the delay in conducting the surveys and the credentials of the contractor that would conduct them.

The Forest Service had wanted the company to conduct the surveys before filing a formal application for the project, preferably last spring when soils were saturated by rain. The agency contends that pipeline officials promised verbally at a meeting July 7 to provide résumés of the soil scientists who would do the work.

Jennifer P. Adams, special project coordinator for the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, sent a message to one pipeline official in late August that said the survey would require “specialized skills and requirements … specific to those who have skills within the Appalachian Region, and it is imperative that a certified professional soil scientist head this survey work.”

The Forest Service met with the pipeline company and its consultants on October 2 to discuss methods for collecting soil samples, but the agency said soil surveys began that day without its consultation and before it received the résumés and qualifications of the people doing the work.

Colin Olness, a construction contractor for Dominion, acknowledged in an email October 16 that the surveys had been done “without proper notification to the appropriate Forest Service contacts of the location, nature and timing of the work,” and apologized for the lapse.

The same day, a Forest Service soil scientist said she had received the résumés of the soil survey crew and that only one, Nan Gray, president of Soil Works Inc., was qualified to conduct the work.

Gray contacted the Forest Service 10 days later and said she had “done no work of any kind” for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. She said she had been contacted by the contractor on October 15 about working as a third-party reviewer of the survey results, but had not been involved in the survey work that already had been performed.

However, the company’s contractor for the survey, Geosyntec, assured Gray that it had not misrepresented her role in the project. “At no point have we identified that you or your company provided input/participation in our project,” said hydrogeologist Kathleen Harrison in an email to Gray on October 27.

The Forest Service said it had identified Gray’s résumé as the only one qualified to do the work, “but since it is now known that Ms. Gray was not among the field personnel, it is clear that no field personnel were qualified.”

“The falsification of the qualifications of field personnel by ACP and/or its consultants is of concern to the Forest Service,” the agency states in its letter to FERC.

Background Video is here. See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net

Alternatives for 42" ACP in Virginia

Wild Virginia Rallies Opposition to Dominion’s Federal Filings of Pipeline Plans

From a Report by WVIR, NBC News 29, Charlottesville, VA, September 19, 2015

The non-profit environmental group Wild Virginia is rallying supporters to keep the 42 inch diameter Atlantic Coast Pipeline proposed by Dominion out of the George Washington National Forest.

This latest push comes a day after Dominion filed its application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC.

Wild Virginia has teamed up with environmental groups across West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina to spread the word about how they say this pipeline could destroy the land. The organization has been involved in several public events in the region and has even sponsored a film about the pipeline’s potential impacts.

Activists say Virginia’s forests are very sensitive environments and that there is no way to avoid the destruction that would occur if the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approves Dominion’s natural gas pipeline.

Wild Virginia say it will continue to do what it can to protect the community. “We’ll continue in every way possible to oppose this because we think it’s just bad for Virginia, it’s bad for our forests, our ecosystems and it’s bad for communities … because communities rely on the good environmental factors that we’re trying to protect,” says David Sligh.

Community members have the option to become intervenors – which will allow them to submit comments to FERC, file briefs, and appear before a court. Wild Virginia says it plans to roll out a guide early next week that will help people register as official intervenors with FERC.

NBC29 has reached out to Dominion for comment, but has yet to hear back from them. This story will be updated with Dominion’s response, should we receive one.

NOTE:  BXE — Beyond Extreme Energy has drawn a Line in the Sand, saying  “No New Permits” at FERC.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

See also:

>>> The Beyond Extreme Energy (BXE) Fast at FERC

>>>  No Homes Safe of Sacrifice Zones in USA

Dominion shareholders pepper CEO with questions about the proposed natural gas pipeline

From an Article by John Ramsey, Richmond Times-Dispatch, May 7, 2015

Opponents of a 500-mile natural gas pipeline targeted Dominion Resources Inc.’s annual shareholders meeting Wednesday, with more than 100 protesters picketing outside and others who will be affected directly asking the company’s top executive to halt the plan.

Thomas F. Farrell II, the chairman, president and CEO of the Richmond-based energy giant, called the planned Atlantic Coast Pipeline a necessity during comments to investors outlining the company’s strategy for the next six years.

The $4.5 billion to $5 billion pipeline will carry natural gas from the abundant shale fields of West Virginia to Virginia and North Carolina, but it has drawn the ire of environmental groups and rural Virginia residents who do not want the line to run through their property.

Yvette Ravina from Churchville, located northwest of Staunton, stood with the protesters while holding a poster showing a fire-breathing dragon emerging from the pipeline. The planned route would cut through her farm, she said, leaving her worried about leaks that could harm water quality or other harmful effects.

“I think that we’ll get the attention of the shareholders of the corporation that don’t realize they’re risking lives,” Ravina said in between group chants of “Hey, hey. Ho, ho. Fossil fuels have got to go.”

Inside the meeting at the Dominion’s Innsbrook Technical Center in Henrico County, six of the 14 shareholders who stood up during a question-and-answer session with Farrell spoke against the pipeline.

Consumer advocate Irene Leech said her family farm in Buckingham County will be bisected by a mile of the pipeline, making it impossible for her children to eventually build homes there. Leech also questioned the safety of having the line so close to her home.

Farrell assured Leech that the pipeline is safe and promised that the company will continue working with landowners who allow them to survey the property to try to come up with the least invasive route along their land.

During the shareholders meeting, Farrell explained that federal emissions standards will require the company to continue to move away from coal. The company has already significantly shifted away from coal, which accounted for close to half of the company’s electricity capacity in 2007 and is less than a third today. Farrell said even more coal plants will likely be shut down in coming years to meet federal regulations.

At the same time, Dominion’s projected customer growth is double the regional average and 50 percent higher the national average.

“Virginia and North Carolina in particular do not have enough gas infrastructure,” Farrell said. “This is extremely important. (And) it’s going to result in much cleaner air.”

One natural gas-fired power plant is under construction in Brunswick County. It is about 60 percent completed. Another plant is planned for Greensville.

The Brunswick plant will replace power that was previously generated at a coal-fired facility and will not affect the expected demand increases, he said. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline will make those natural gas-fired plants more reliable and help ensure that customer rates are low by increasing the company’s options for getting the cheapest natural gas supply.

Farrell told shareholders the company set records in reliability, performance and safety last year, all while maintaining rates that keep the average customer bill 20 percent lower than the national average and just 2 percent higher than they were in July 2008.

While planning the new pipeline, Farrell said, the company studied about 3,000 potential miles before settling on the current 500-mile route.

“We have a responsibility … to provide reliable power at reasonable rates,” he said. “We’re doing the best we can with this route.”

Another shareholder asked Farrell to halt plans by the company’s Dominion Virginia Power unit to build a high-rise electrical transmission line over a historic section of the James River near Jamestown.

Farrell said no because of the need in the Tidewater region, which has the risks of future rolling blackouts. “If we could bury it underneath the river, we would. It is not technically feasible. We will not withdraw the line, and it will be built,” he said.

After one of the shareholder’s questions, Farrell said he was somewhat surprised that the company was not receiving more praise for all the work it has already done to reduce pollution and increase its portfolio of renewable energy.

Stockholders rejected seven shareholder proposals that would have, among other things, required Dominion to outline the financial risks posed by climate change, tied executive compensation to reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, and scraped the idea of building a third nuclear reactor at its North Anna plant in Louisa County.

Three of the proposals relating to environmental issues received at least 20 percent of the vote.

See these links: MARE-Project and Friends-of-Nelson

See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net