Category: Press Releases

Cove Point Protests Go Statewide: Six Marylanders Arrested at Calvert County Courthouse Over Fracked Gas Export Plan

Peaceful sit-in led by local retired nurse and southern MD students comes less than 24 hours after federal regulators release apparent rubber-stamp review timeline
Protesters cite revelations over Dominion’s plan to build a giant vapor cloud containment wall as latest cause for a full federal environmental impact statement
PRINCE FREDERICK—Following on the heels of recent protests in Cumberland and Frederick, six Maryland residents were peacefully arrested this morning outside the Calvert County courthouse in Prince Frederick protesting Virginia-based Dominion Resources’ plan to build a liquefied natural gas export facility at Cove Point in nearby Lusby. The protesters, led by a retired nurse and former Air Force reservist from Lusby and including five students, blocked the courthouse entrance to demand justice in the federal handling of Dominion’s controversial $3.8 billion plan.
Less than 24 hours before the protest, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) formally announced it intends to release an “Environmental Assessment” on the project in May, a move strongly condemned by statewide and community leaders. The timeline ignores repeated demands made by local citizens, health, faith and environmental leaders, Maryland’s attorney general and the Baltimore Sun for a full Environmental Impact Statement—a more rigorous type of review that is customary for a polluting facility as massive as Cove Point. The plan also omits any specific commitment to public participation or hearings.
Holding signs like “Vapor Cloud Danger: We Need Answers” and “Dominion Pollutes the Truth,” the protesters in Calvert County cited recent revelations that Dominion plans to use a massive barrier wall as a means to contain potential releases of flammable vapor gas clouds as the latest reason for concern.
“Those of us who live in southern Calvert County are really concerned about our quality of life being degraded by a large industrial facility being built so close to our homes, schools and churches,” said David Hardy, a retired registered nurse and retired engineer craftsman in the Air Force Reserves who lives just three miles from the proposed facility. “Now we learn that Dominion has failed to reveal information about the serious possibility of a flammable vapor cloud reaching our homes. What else is Dominion hiding? We’re here to demand full answers from federal regulators whose first job should be protecting our safety.”

In recent a filing with FERC, Dominion publicly admitted for the first time that a six-story tall and three-quarter mile long wall—previously referred to only as a “sound abatement wall”—is part of an apparently unprecedented and untested barrier wall system that would be constructed to protect nearby residents from vapor gas clouds. Local citizens said this revelation only underscores the need for FERC to hold Dominion’s plans to the highest level of scrutiny by completing a full Environmental Impact Statement.
“Dominion’s proposal makes it quite clear that they aren’t concerned with our health or safety. What if their untested, sky-scraping concrete vapor barrier fails? Who gave them the right to put local families at risk?” said Ashok Chandwaney, a senior at St. Mary’s College. “I’m here today because I want a future with clean air and water. I want safe jobs so families can have both their health and food on the table. I want a future where St. Mary’s hasn’t been inundated by the rising sea levels that Cove Point would accelerate.”

The students arrested today included four studying at nearby St. Mary’s College and a student leader at the University of Maryland College Park. They echoed protesters from Cumberland to Frederick in drawing attention to the statewide impacts that could be triggered by the Cove Point export facility, including expanded fracking, new pipelines and compressor stations and, ultimately, significant new carbon pollution.
“How do you put a price on the future generations affected by the climate crisis that Cove Point’s greenhouse gas emissions will worsen? What is the cost of clean air and water?” said Ruth Tyson, a student at St. Mary’s College. “We’re speaking out because we can’t sit back anymore. We should be investing our resources in clean, renewable energy, which will create far more jobs, and it’s time for Dominion and our leaders to start listening.”
From Cumberland to Frederick to Calvert, the sit-ins reflect growing community opposition to Dominion’s plan that has spread across Maryland in recent months. Citing rising constituent concern, Maryland’s powerful U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski sent a letter to FERC last week calling on the agency to “go the extra mile” in engaging the public. The senators asked FERC to respond promptly to a request for public meetings on Cove Point in Garrett, Frederick, Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Montgomery Counties made by health, faith, community and environmental groups—a request ignored in FERC’s timeline announcement.
“I have spent countless hours fighting against this facility—I have petitioned, rallied, met with senators, testified in front of the Public Service Commission, and more,” said Ori Gutin, director of sustainability for the University of Maryland Student Government Association, which officially voted to oppose the Cove Point project. “And today, I physically plead with our lawmakers and regulators like FERC to stop siding with corporate profits, and to start protecting the planet and the people on it.”
RESOURCES:
See statements by the six Marylanders on why they engaged in civil disobedience over Cove Point.
View photos of today’s protest on Flickr.
Contact:
Kelly Trout, 240-396-2022 (office), 717-439-0346 (cell), kelly@chesapeakeclimate.org

###

Calvert Citizens for a Healthy Community ■ Chesapeake Climate Action Network ■ Citizen Shale ■ Food & Water Watch ■ HoCo Climate Change ■ Interfaith Power & Light (MD.DC.NoVa) ■ Maryland Sierra Club ■ Myersville Citizens for a Rural Community ■ U. of Maryland Student Government Association

MD Groups: Cove Point Federal Review Timeline Ignores Key Safety and Environmental Concerns and Fails to Serve the Public

ANNAPOLIS—Late Wednesday afternoon, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released its official notice of a schedule for reviewing Dominion Resources controversial $3.8 billion proposal to construct a liquefied natural gas export facility at Cove Point in Southern Maryland. The timeline formally commits the agency to releasing an “Environmental Assessment” on May 15, and omits any mention of opportunities for public participation. Maryland community, faith, environmental and student groups responded with the following statement:

“Federal officials are serving Dominion, not the public interest, in formally endorsing a low bar of scrutiny on a fast-tracked timeline. The announcement is a slap in the face to citizens and leaders across Maryland who have repeatedly called for a full Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)—a type of review most protective of public health and safety and customary for a polluting project as huge as Dominion’s.

Continue reading

In response to rising concerns, senators ask Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to “engage the public to the fullest extent possible”

Letter requests prompt response to calls for public meetings in Montgomery, Frederick, Garrett, Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties

ANNAPOLIS—Maryland’s powerful U.S. Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin have weighed in on the growing Cove Point gas export controversy by calling on federal officials to respond to a request for public meetings all across the state. In a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the senators said expressions of concern from health, faith, environmental, and community leaders statewide have led them to ask FERC to respond promptly to a request for public meetings on Cove Point in Garrett, Frederick, Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Montgomery Counties.

To date, FERC has agreed to hold only one public meeting—in Calvert County—for the proposed $3.8 billion Cove Point “liquefaction” and export facility for fracked gas. The project would take 770 million cubic feet of gas per day from all across the Marcellus Shale region of Appalachia, liquefy it to 260 degrees below zero, and then ship it to Asia via special tanker ships entering the Chesapeake Bay.

An outpouring of concern has emerged in recent months from citizens across the state—over possible new pipelines, fracking hazards, rising gas prices, and an increase in global warming pollution. Activists say these impacts would affect the entire state and therefore warrant official public meetings statewide in which FERC takes public comments and responds to these concerns.

Continue reading

Peaceful sit-in by central Maryland mothers, county commission candidate and Frederick resident follows Cumberland protest last week
Protesters demand justice for Frederick Co. residents facing pollution from Dominion gas compressor linked to Cove Point
FREDERICK—One week following a peaceful sit-in that led to four arrests in Cumberland, four central Maryland residents were arrested today outside the Frederick County Courthouse protesting Virginia-based Dominion Resources’ plan to build a liquefied natural gas export facility at Cove Point in southern Maryland. With signs reading “FERC: Don’t Bully Frederick Co.” and “We Demand Justice for Myersville,” the four protesters—including a county commission candidate, an asthma sufferer, a mother, and a Frederick resident who grew up playing baseball in Cove Point Park—blocked the courthouse entrance and demanded a full and fair federal environmental impact review of Dominion’s controversial $3.8 billion plan.
From Cumberland to Frederick, protesters are drawing attention to the interconnected, statewide impacts that could be triggered by the Cove Point export facility, including the invasion of dangerous gas fracking wells and related gas pipeline and compressor infrastructure.
“Dominion doesn’t respect the wishes of the citizens of Myersville, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is failing to protect the public,” said Steve Bruns, a Frederick resident who is running for a seat on the county commission. “Dominion has sued the Town of Myersville and the Maryland Department of the Environment to force its gas compressor project on our county. This sort of contempt for the health and safety of the people of Maryland is unacceptable in a democratic society. Our government isn’t getting the message, so we’re here today to crank up the volume.”

Continue reading

Local minister joins western MD students and resident for peaceful sit-in demanding a full federal Environmental Impact Statement for $3.8 billion project that could fast-track fracking
CUMBERLAND—A local Unitarian minister and three western Maryland residents were arrested just before noon today outside the Allegany County Courthouse in Cumberland for peacefully protesting Virginia-based Dominion Resources’ plan to build a liquefied natural gas export facility at Cove Point in southern Maryland. The protesters blocked the courthouse entrance to demand justice in the controversial federal handling of the massive $3.8 billion project, which would take nearly a billion cubic feet of gas per day from fracking wells across the Appalachian region, liquefy it on the Chesapeake Bay, and export it to Asia.
“I am here today as both a citizen of this beautiful state and as a minister deeply concerned that the proposed Cove Point gas export facility would take us in exactly the wrong direction,” said Reverend Terence Ellen, a minister at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Greater Cumberland. “It is inconceivable to me that a project so huge and so potentially harmful to our health and welfare would not even receive a full Environmental Impact Statement. We’re sitting in today because the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is failing to serve the public.”
Joining Rev. Ellen were three young people, including two native residents of Cumberland who are students at Frostburg University and a local Frostburg resident who has seen the impacts of fracking elsewhere. With signs reading “Don’t Bring Fracking to W. Maryland” and “This Is Our Public Comment!” they specifically called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to conduct a full and fair Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on Cove Point. They also appealed to Governor Martin O’Malley and members of Congress to break their silence and join them in demanding this most rigorous and participatory type of environmental review.

Continue reading

As key state permit hearing begins, grassroots activists from across Maryland march around the Public Service Commission headquarters

Protesters appeal to Governor O’Malley, Senators Cardin and Mikulski to demand a full federal environmental impact review

BALTIMORE—Today, as a key state permit hearing began in downtown Baltimore, activists from every corner of Maryland and from across the Mid-Atlantic marched from a nearby plaza to the doorstep of the Public Service Commission to send one clear message to state leaders: “Stop Cove Point.” This controversial $3.8 billion project, proposed by Virginia-based Dominion Resources, would take gas from fracking wells across the Appalachian region, liquefy it along the Chesapeake Bay in southern Maryland, and export it to Asia.

See photos from Thursday’s rally at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chesapeakeclimate/sets/72157641279897563/

The 700-strong demonstration, estimated to be the largest environmental protest in Baltimore city history, united people whose land, homes and health are threatened by the new regionwide wave of harmful fracking, climate change pollution, and explosion-prone gas infrastructure that Dominion’s plan could trigger. Analysis shows that the process of drilling, piping, liquefying and exporting gas is as bad as—or worse—for the climate than burning coal. In fact, Cove Point would become the single biggest trigger of planet-heating pollution in the state of Maryland. 

Rally participants literally carried their “Stop Cove Point” message to the Public Service Commission—marching a 100-foot-long gas pipeline prop emblazoned with those words around the agency’s headquarters. Inside, attorneys representing environmental groups testified against Dominion’s application for a permit to build a 130-megawatt gas-fired “liquefaction” complex at Cove Point. By every measure—including raising prices for ratepayers, impacting air and water, and degrading local quality of life—they argued that Dominion’s plan would overwhelmingly benefit the gas industry at the expense of Maryland’s economy and environment. 

Demonstrators also called for leadership, not more silence, from Maryland’s elected officials, especially Governor Martin O’Malley and U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski. Speakers called on them to ensure that federal regulators give the people of Maryland the full and customary Environmental Impact Statement typically required for a project of Cove Point’s size and scope—the type of review backed by 81 percent of Maryland voters in a recent poll.

Continue reading

Independent study provides lawmakers and the public with first Maryland-specific risk assessment, coming on the heels of violent gas well explosion in PA

Advocates call on the General Assembly to pass SB 745 to ensure that communities get the facts and legislators have a say in state drilling decision

ANNAPOLIS—In the wake of a gas well explosion and fire in nearby Pennsylvania that injured one worker and left another still missing, Maryland community and environmental groups released a study today showing that allowing controversial hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” for gas in the Free State would expose communities’ air, water and land to high levels of risk.

The study, conducted by experts at one of the world’s leading independent environmental consultancies, used Maryland-specific data to examine ten major drilling impact areas—including water use, water contamination, air pollution, traffic, noise, biodiversity, land use and visual scarring—across every stage of the drilling process. In nine of ten categories, Maryland received a “high” or “very high” cumulative risk grade, with earthquake risks receiving the only “low” classification. (View the full study here. Download a summary of key findings and methodology here.)

Continue reading

Environmental litigation prevails, local coal ash communities to gain some protection

Washington, D.C. – Late yesterday, the Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to finalize first-ever federal regulations for the disposal of coal ash by December 19, 2014, according to a settlement in a lawsuit brought by environmental and public health groups and a Native American tribe. The settlement does not dictate the content of the final regulation, but it confirms that the agency will finalize a rule by a date certain after years of delay.

A copy of the settlement can be found here: http://earthjustice.org/documents/legal-document/pdf/coal-ash-consent-decree

The settlement is in response to a lawsuit brought in 2012 by Earthjustice on behalf of Appalachian Voices (NC); Chesapeake Climate Action Network (MD); Environmental Integrity Project (DC, PA); Kentuckians For The Commonwealth (KY); Moapa Band of Paiutes (NV); Montana Environmental Information Center (MT); Physicians for Social Responsibility (DC); Prairie Rivers Network (IL); Sierra Club (CA); Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (eight southeast states); and Western North Carolina Alliance (NC).

Continue reading

CCAN applauds 10-5 Finance Committee vote as a win for the environment and climate change solutions in Richmond

RICHMOND–This morning the Senate Finance Committee voted 10-5 across party lines to advance legislation to repeal the hybrid car tax (SB 127). Dawone Robinson, Virginia Policy Coordinator at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, issued the following statement:

Continue reading