This post was authored by CCAN’s new volunteer Richmond Pipeline Coordinator, Chelsea Norman.
“Stand With Virginians, not with Dominion” — that’s what echoed through the streets of downtown Richmond on Tuesday as CCAN and our allies participated in the first Hands Across Our Land pipeline resistance march.
This August marks one year since the first informational meetings Dominion Power held in Augusta, Buckingham, and Nelson counties for their proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. It also marks one year of growing pipeline resistance across Virginia.
I started as a volunteer with CCAN a week ago, and the dedication to protecting Virginia’s climate from shortsighted fossil fuel projects like these is abundantly clear. Made up of landowners and their allies, business owners, faith leaders, students, lifelong climate activists, artists, and concerned citizens, a community has been born that is resisting new natural gas infrastructure right in the heart of Dominion-ruled Virginia.
Three proposed pipelines: Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Mountain Valley Pipeline, and the lesser known Atlantic Connector — together these spell disaster for our lands, our coast, and our climate. That’s why over fifty people came out to join hands Tuesday and urge Governor McAuliffe to withdraw his support of these disastrous pipelines.
Two of the inspiring people that came out Tuesday were Will Barr and his mother-in-law Lisa Tulley, who are currently being sued by Dominion for denying the company approval to survey their land. Surveying seems like such a small act, but in reality it consists of a myriad of inspectors, large crews on the property and digging for about a week’s time.
“For me, in addition to the environmental effects, it’s about property law. It destroys the community, it’s dangerous and I can’t control what’s happening to my own property — something I’m supposed to be able to protect.” Barr and his wife own eight mountainside acres in Nelson County’s Horizon EcoVillage. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline will cut across their property, along with eleven other lots in the village and 40 acres of public land. According to Barr, spreading across these lots is a wetland that hosts a rare tree breed as well as an endangered species that Dominion’s environmental representatives plan on trapping,. Barr’s mother-in-law is particularly concerned about water: “It’s going to intersect five aquifers that serve our well system. My biggest concern is the quality of our drinking water. What happens if there’s a leak?”
Today’s event was one of 15 Hands Across Our Land events across Virginia – including one in nearly every county threatened by these proposed projects, and one of 30 nationwide. This coordinated day of action was conceived by organizers at the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and supported by dozens of Virginia groups. The Richmond event was coordinated by BREDL, CCAN, Virginia Sierra Club and the Virginia Student Environmental Coalition (in their first major action of the new school year).
https://twitter.com/BelEsprit92/status/633681476651982848/video/1
 
As a unified community we stood, hands clasped, banners waving, and urged Governor McAuliffe to withdraw his support of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Mountain Valley Pipeline.  He has said before that there is nothing he can do about these pipelines, but that is far from true. He can stand with Virginians, not with Dominion and their allies. He can stand with the property owners whose land will be destroyed and whose property values will plummet, and the low-income communities whose health will be impacted by compressor stations and other dirty infrastructure projects
James Freeman, a Richmond resident and Virginia mountain hiker was in the crowd today. In one hand he held a “Protect Our Virginia” sign and in the other he held the clearest symbol for Hands Across Our Lands – his eight-year-old son Dylan’s hand. “We must think of our future generations who will reap the repercussions of our decisions.”
What’s next? In September, we expect Dominion to file for the Certificate of Public Necessity and Convenience, i.e. their permit to start construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Virginians from Highland to Chesapeake are gearing up to respond, and so are we here at CCAN. Stay tuned for more.