Does your vision of Calvert County include Dominion?

Virginia-based Dominion Resources has never been the first thing that’s come to mind when I think about Calvert County. I think about trail-running in the American Chestnut Land Trust, or fossil-hunting as a kid at Calvert Cliffs, or sharing stories with friends in Solomons. To me, Calvert County is famous for its friendly communities, fresh air and natural beauty.
Yet, for the past 6 months, Dominion has been changing that. After hiring non-local construction workers, creating traffic jams and clearing forests, they are continuing to build their massive Cove Point export facility to process and ship billions of gallons of fracked gas from the Marcellus Shale overseas.
As CCAN gears up its legal battle to challenge the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval of Cove Point, a relentless and growing group of community members from across Southern Maryland continue to organize: holding meetings, presenting at weekly Board of Calvert County Commissioners’ meetings, knocking on neighbors’ doors, and pushing against a behemoth company to protect their neighborhoods. And it’s all leading up to an exciting rally, march, and comm11067452_1583367431927907_5019736124691377819_nunity picnic on May 30th — The March for Calvert County to be Dominion-Free!
The day will begin with an inspiring rally at the Solomons boardwalk at 9AM. Following that, you can “join the flock” for a six-mile walk through Lusby ending at Cove Point Park, where we will celebrate everything we love about Calvert County. Join friends and community members for a family picnic and fellowship at 1PM.
Click here to join us at the March for Calvert County to be Dominion-free. On May 30th, we will show Calvert County that Dominion’s dirty fracked gas facility is not a done deal. 
Since construction started, Dominion has failed the community, and now, it’s time to speak up. Show Calvert County and beyond that your vision of Calvert county is Dominion-Free. Let them know, we want our communities to be healthy and thriving, not polluted with more fracking wells or pipelines just so this corporation can make bigger profits.
Here are the details:
WHAT: March for Calvert County to be Dominion-free
WHEN: May 30th, 2015
WHERE: 9AM – Rally at Solmons Boardwalk in Solomons, MD
9:30AM – March! 6 miles from Solomons through Lusby
1PM – Picnic and Fellowship at Cove Point Park
750 Cove Point Rd, Lusby, MD 20657

See you May 30th at the March for Calvert County to be Dominion-free!

Cove Point: Calvert County Citizens Keep Up the Fight

I joined CCAN’s staff three weeks ago today and since day one I’ve been inspired by the “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over” spirit the community members we have the honor of working with bring to their work. That spirit is nowhere more visible to me than in the work of the Calvert Citizens for a Healthy Community, the citizen group that formed in opposition to Dominion Virginia Resources proposed liquefied natural gas export facility at Cove Point.
CCAN’s Southern Maryland Organizer, Jon Kenney, and I spent Monday in Calvert County, meeting with some of the leaders of CCHC. Inspired by last Sunday’s rally and undeterred by the construction work that has already started on Cove Point Road, CCHC’s leaders are ramping up their call on Governor O’Malley to step in where federal regulators have failed to and order a Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA). A QRA is a basic and customary type of safety assessment that would determine the extent to which an accidental explosion or other catastrophe at the plant could put CCHC’s members and their neighbors in danger.

Water park abutting Dominion's plant.
Water park abutting Dominion’s plant.

The reality of what’s at stake if the Governor ignores the citizens of Calvert County really hit home for me Monday. Jon and I went for a drive through Cove Point Park – a beautiful park that shares a fence with Dominion’s plant. Jon told me that this park – with its two playgrounds, baseball diamonds and crowded water park – is the place where kids in Calvert County go to play. And it shares a fence with the plant. Imagine the horrific scene if there were an explosion like the one that occurred at an LNG facility this spring in Plymouth, Washington.
And I met Leslie Garcia, one of the creative minds behind CCHC. With her husband, Leslie has been putting blood, sweat and tears into renovating their home – a home I had a hard time leaving after an hour, let alone 20 years. They feel like they’ll have no choice but to leave if Dominion wins. They’re in Dominion’s backyard: their home is less than a 5 minute walk from the overlook facing Dominion’s current import platform and a short drive from the plant. Imagine locking the door and walking away from the home you’d hoped to live the rest of your life in because you know that staying is too dangerous.
View from Solomon's Island, looking towards the future site of Dominion's pier.
View from Solomon’s Island, looking towards the proposed site of Dominion’s pier.

Before leaving, we walked along the pier at Solomon’s Island, looking out over the scenic Patuxent River towards the Thomas Johnson Bridge – Dominion plans to build a temporary pier next to the bridge for the loading and unloading of construction materials. And right next to it, one of the largest, most productive, and most beautiful farms in Calvert County – Dominion plans to use the field abutting this farm for the loading and unloading of construction materials coming off of the pier. Imagine the scene.
Construction may have started on Cove Point Road, but that doesn't mean this fight is over.
Construction may have started on Cove Point Road, but that doesn’t mean this fight is over.

As we drove through neighborhoods on our way home, we noticed that a bunch of the old Cove Point lawn signs (“Cove Point: We need answers!”) had started to disappear. The construction work on Cove Point Road has gotten some folks started thinking this fight is over; Dominion has already won.
But the members of CCHC will tell you that it isn’t, that too much is at stake to stop fighting now. Just a few days after our visit, CCHC members traveled to Annapolis to join 52 organizations and residents for a press conference urging the Governor to protect the safety of Calvert County residents and order a QRA. As the fight against Cove Point continues, CCAN will be supporting CCHC at every step – whether that’s on the streets, in the media or in the courts – and what an honor it is for us to do so.

Community Organizing to Stop Cove Point

It was an amazing moment. I was a block away from the march when I could hear “Stop Cove Point!” echoing off the hot pavement in Downtown DC. I ran over to join the 1000+ activists from the Eastern Seaboard as we marched from the National Mall to the headquarters of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC.
As I approached the front of the march, I started recognizing the group of Calvert County residents I’ve been working closest with over the last few months fighting Dominion Resources’ proposed fracked gas facility at Cove Point. One by one, they started to come into focus within the sea of people. Some were holding signs, marching with their children, and carrying creative artwork (which included a huge LNG tanker and giant postcards to FERC).

Activists from the Eastern Seaboard march to FERC headquarters with banners and a prop LNG tanker, "S.S. Dominion Titanic." (Photo: M.Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO)
Activists march with banners and a prop LNG tanker, “S.S. Dominion Titanic.” (Photo: M.Scott Mahaskey/POLITICO)

Some were even holding banners marching next to movement leaders like Tim DeChristopher and Sandra Steingraber. A few months ago, this was probably the last thing these Southern Maryland marchers thought they would be doing on a sweltering day in July.
These people are part of the hundreds of concerned citizens from Southern Maryland that live within a few miles of Dominion Resources’ proposed Cove Point gas export facility. Most of them were first learning about the plant just last fall, whether it was at a town hall, or a discussion with their neighbor while they walked the dog. They formed a group, Calvert Citizens for a Healthy Community (CCHC), which has been courageously fighting off the goliath-like Dominion from relentless propaganda on TV, radio, and print, pushing to stop the plant from tarnishing their idyllic bayside community.
 
CCHC members rally to stop the proposed Cove Point gas export facility. (Photo: Tracey Eno)
CCHC members rally to stop the proposed Cove Point gas export facility. (Photo: Tracey Eno)

The members of CCHC have been integral in making this rally, and this movement, grow so quickly. CCHC has been a big part of the campaign every step of the way. They’ve collected hundreds of public comments, going door-to-door and calling neighbors throughout the community, pointing out the glaring safety and environmental flaws on FERC’s draft environmental assessment of Cove Point. They’ve published dozens of letters in the local paper, held house meetings, Gasland screenings and have lobbied elected officials. They’ve packed public hearings, outnumbering the proponents of the plant and giving passionate testimony. At the rally, we filled an entire bus with Southern Marylanders, and a CCHC member kicked off the rally as an incredible speaker, sharing her story with the large crowd and the media.
Every day, I am inspired by the sheer amount of work and effort the CCHC members have given to this fight; spending endless hours late into the night researching detailed applications and documents, writing countless letters to elected officials and newspapers, attending weekly public meetings, sitting in on panels and sharing their story on national activist conference calls. They can’t stop, and won’t stop, until the job is done and they stop Cove Point from being built.
Southern Maryland residents filled the bus ready to march against Cove Point (Photo: Tracey Eno)
Southern Maryland residents filled the bus ready to march against Cove Point (Photo: Tracey Eno)

It’s been an amazing journey, and, while I know it’s definitely not over, it’s the members of CCHC that give me hope. Not only have we built a formidable grassroots opposition to the proposed project, but have also built a community and network of lifelong friends that can now provide a support structure for each other in the face of such an uphill struggle. I don’t think Dominion had any idea of who they were messing with when they submitted their application to FERC.
While I was marching alongside my friends from Southern Maryland yesterday, I came to the conclusion that without a doubt we will stop Cove Point, and we’ll look back and see that all of the hard work was worth it. At the very least, it will make for a great victory party. 
 
 
 
 
 

"We Need a Surgeon General’s Report for Fracked Gas Exports at Cove Point"

This piece by CCAN Director Mike Tidwell, Katie Huffling, Program Director for the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, and Joelle Novey, Director of Interfaith Power and Light, was originially published on DeSmog Blog. 
Fifty years ago the US Surgeon General’s report on cigarettes and lung cancer changed America forever. Before the report, Americans generally thought smoking was okay – maybe even good for us given ads like, “More doctors smoke Camels than any other cigarette!” But then the hard evidence – the undeniable facts – came to the surface and we changed.
That’s the good news. The bad news for Maryland is that we have a new “Camel cigarette” problem. For the past several months, a powerful corporation called Dominion Resources has been telling Marylanders that we can light something else on fire – something called “fracked gas” – and that it will be good for public health and the environment.
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Enviros warn investors: Cove Point gas plan is uncertain, controversial in MD

Environmentalists Warn Investors Over “Cove Point” Gas Plan in Maryland: Analysis Shows Dominion’s $3.8 Billion Export Proposal for East Coast Fracked Gas Could Rest on Thin Financial Ice

Research released today by project opponents reveals dearth of evidence that company has secured critical project loan amid escalating legal, grassroots and moral challenges. Opponents caution investors: You will step into instant controversy, uncertainty, and delay.

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Baltimore Sun editorial urges strongest review for Cove Point

Dominion had better take its plan off autopilot. The statewide campaign to stop the company’s proposed Cove Point facility that would export fracked gas has taken hold. One need look no further than the Baltimore Sun’s recent editorial to know that Chesapeake Climate Action Network and its broad coalition have been successful in raising serious questions about a disastrous project that was considered a done deal several months ago. (Read the full editorial here.)
The “stakes are high” but the “ramifications are great,” the Sun says in its editorial. It says the project would create demand for more fracking and require a new power plant just to liquefy the gas, as well as more pipelines and compressor stations across the state. It then urges federal regulators to require an Environmental Impact Statement, the most stringent type of review, rather than the paler Environmental Assessment:

[W]herever one stands on the project — excited about the jobs or fearful of what it may mean for global warming — everyone should agree that the proposal should be thoroughly examined and vetted to understand the potential impact and trade-offs involved. … Would it slow down the application process? Almost certainly. … But that seems like a small price to pay. … FERC owes that much to the people of Maryland, and frankly, given the potential impact on global warming, the rest of the country, too.

The Sun even referred to Cove Point as Gov. Martin O’Malley’s Keystone XL pipeline, because of the controversy it has created.
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Cove Point community deserves to hear from Dominion

Dear Dominion,
Can we talk?
You say you want to meet with the community, get the facts out about your $3.8 billion plan to export liquefied fracked gas from Cove Point to India and Japan. But where are you?
“We tend to overcommunicate,” Bruce McKay, Dominion managing director of federal affairs, said inexplicably on WEAA-FM’s Marc Steiner radio program Nov. 11.
We would like to see this “overcommunication” in action.
On the program, McKay said: “But if there’s some people that don’t feel they’ve heard enough from us along the way, let us know. We are going through and meeting with every community group that we can.”

Dominion’s Bruce McKay
asked residents to contact
him if they haven’t heard
enough about the project.

OK, Dominion, all you have to do is stop at any home, any gas station, any store in southern Calvert County and ask: “Do you know anything about the $3.8 billion fossil fuel plant Dominion is proposing?” The answer you will likely get is that people know next to nothing. And this is your fault, Dominion. If you have “overcommunicated” with residents, why haven’t they heard from you? Leading homeowners associations haven’t been contacted by you either.
So, Dominion, we’re letting you know. You are failing in the communication department. Calvert County residents, we’re letting you know, too. Email covepoint@dom.com to let Dominion know you are being kept in the dark.
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Cove Point controversy draws growing media attention statewide

At one time, few people came to Dominion’s public meetings because they were “so boring,” an almost wistful Dominion spokesman, Don Donovan, told WAMU-FM in recent a news report.
Well, they’re attending now. Calvert County residents are taking note and finding nothing boring about Dominion’s plan for a $3.8 billion facility at Cove Point to export fracked natural gas to India and Japan.
People don’t come “unless somebody scares them to come,” Donovan said.
Or maybe they find out the stark truths hidden behind the fancy news releases about jobs (not so many permanent ones) and tax revenue (minus some hefty tax giveaways). After a news conference called by a Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN)-led coalition in September, regional media have been waking up to Calvert County as ground zero in this scheme. And residents of Lusby, who live closest to the planned facility, are making their voices heard. So far, coverage of the “Clean Energy, Not Cove Point” campaign has appeared in Southern Maryland Newspapers Online (SoMdNews), Bay Net, the Bay Journal, WAMU-FM, the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, the Daily Record (subscription req’d), the Frederick News-Post, and WJZ-TV.
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More than 300 people attend Calvert County town hall meeting concerning controversial proposal to export fracked gas from Maryland to Asia

The first town hall meeting concerning the risks of the proposed Cove Point LNG export terminal in Maryland was held Tuesday night, October 23. It was a big and rousing success. At least 300 people attended, most of them local residents. It was held at the Southern Community Center in Lusby, Md. in Calvert County, just a few miles from where Dominion Resources wants to build an industrial terminal to export fracked natural gas — piped in from Appalachia — and ship it to India and Japan. The $3.8 billion facility would chill the gas to 270 degrees below zero, turning it into liquid for 1000-foot-long shipping tankers coming into the Bay. It would generate 3.3 million tons of CO2 pollution per year. (You can learn more about the health and environmental risks of exporting fracked gas from Maryland by clicking here.) 

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For Cove Point, political parties don’t dictate sides

Two weeks ago, a group of environmental organizations, waterman, nurses, and concerned citizens stood outside of the Public Service Commission in Baltimore to launch our No to Cove Point LNG Exports Campaign. It was a great press conference – lots of media and onlookers. I stood there and watched a host of people speak, everyone from a representative of a national non-profit to a member of a local Cove Point Homeowners Association.  I got to meet activists from all over Maryland. I was on day 3 of my new job, and I was impressed.
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