LUSBY—Governor Hogan spoke at 11:00 a.m. this morning at a groundbreaking ceremony for Virginia-based Dominion Resources’ massive — and massively polluting — fracked gas export facility located along the Chesapeake Bay in Calvert County.
Calvert County citizen and statewide environmental leaders had the following statements in response:
Tracey Eno, spokesperson for Calvert Citizens for a Healthy Community, said:
“The residents of Lusby are NOT celebrating Dominion’s ‘TOWN-breaking Ceremony’ today. It’s no surprise that this event was kept a secret until the last minute and is closed to the public ‘due to security concerns,’ according to Dominion PR spokesperson, Karl Neddenien. If Dominion is worried about security, they should think twice about building a dangerous liquefaction train next to the 20,483 residents of Lusby. We worry about security every day and the risk of vapor clouds and explosions of propane and LNG, with potential for grave catastrophe. The 2006 Maryland Department of Natural Resources study shows that 360 families are at risk of a flash fire right now.
“We look forward to meeting with Governor Hogan to tell him the truth. We can only assume he hasn’t studied the details of the project. We recommend he Google ‘Images Skikda Algeria 2004’ as a primer.”
Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, said:
“The Cove Point fracked gas export plant will harm the environment, bring unprecedented safety risks to local residents, and raise gas prices for all Marylanders. It is disappointing that Governor Hogan is standing today with a company, Virginia-based Dominion, that has repeatedly withheld critical safety information in disregard for the health and well-being of residents in harm’s way of its project.
“We encourage Governor Hogan to meet with the many Marylanders who oppose this project, including citizens in Calvert County, experts who warn about climate change, and landowners who could see new fracking wells, pipelines and other gas infrastructure invade their communities. In the future, we hope that Governor Hogan will commit to developing truly clean energy in our state like solar and wind power, instead of harmful fracked gas.”
Contact:
Mike Tidwell, 240-396-2022, mtidwell@chesapeakeclimate.org
Kelly Trout, 240-396-2022, kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org
###
