Everything you need to know about the fight against the Potomac Pipeline

By Cynthia Houston. Originally published in SpinSheet December 2017.
 
The flotilla of dozens of activists in kayaks who paddled down the Potomac River in August carrying protest banners that called for Maryland Governor Larry Hogan to reject the Eastern Panhandle Expansion Project is not a commonplace occurrence in the Potomac River watershed. Dubbed “kayaktivists,” this relatively new approach to activism has spread from Seattle and Portland to the East Coast and the banks of the Potomac.  
The kayaktivists were a part of an extensive anti-pipeline campaign that included “rolling encampments” on the Potomac and C&O Canal over the summer in addition to hundreds of Maryland and West Virginia residents joining hands to form a chain across the Potomac’s James Rumsey Bridge in October. Environmental advocates that include the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, the Eastern Panhandle Protectors, and the Potomac Riverkeepers have joined forces with landowners and citizens to influence what they see as a decision that ultimately lies with Governor Hogan.
The protests were against the proposed development of a 3.5-mile underground natural gas pipeline that would run across the narrowest part of Western Maryland, transporting fracked gas from Pennsylvania to West Virginia. The pipeline would provide 47,500 dekatherms of natural gas per day to West Virginia. Protestors and environmental activists are most concerned about a section of the pipeline that would cross under the Potomac River and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (C&O) – a risk they feel it too great to manage. Protestors also believe that the transport of fracked gas goes against the statewide fracking ban that Hogan signed in April.
In March, an application was filed by Calgary, Alberta-based TransCanada to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to gain approval to install the pipeline in Maryland, which according TransCanada’s video on the project is slated to be buried 72 feet underground when it crosses under the Potomac. FERC, the National Parks Service, and Maryland’s Department of the Environment (MDE) must approve the pipeline, and TransCanada must obtain more than 40 required permits. But anti-pipeline protestors have identified that the tipping point of this lengthy environmental assessment process lies with Governor Hogan. If the MDE grants TransCanada a 401 Water Quality Certificate under the Clean Water Act, certifying that the pipeline project would not negatively impact water quality in the state, Hogan can reject the certificate.
Maryland’s decision is a difficult one, and there are many voices in the mix. But if you think of the “who, what, where, when, why, and how” of the pipeline’s installation, there are several factors to consider that demonstrate risks that counter the benefits gleaned by West Virginia’s economy.
 

Who

TransCanada operates a 56,900 mile network of natural gas pipelines in North America, supplying more than 25 per cent of the natural gas consumed daily across the nation. President George W. Bush approved TransCanada’s first pipeline into the United States, “Keystone I,” in 2007. Scott Castleman, a TransCanada spokesperson, stated that the proposed Maryland pipeline would be buried up to 100 feet beneath the riverbed, with walls twice as thick as required, and would be constantly monitored for leaks and surges. Castleman stated that TransCanada has more than a century of experience building pipelines in the area. “A dozen TransCanada pipelines already cross under the Potomac River in Maryland,” Castleman stated.
However, as recently as March, the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration submitted to TransCanada’s ANR Pipeline Company a Notice of Probable Violation Proposed Civil Penalty and Proposed Compliance Order, which identified that the company “did not use properly and well qualified welding procedures” at the ANR Lincoln Storage Field Line in Michigan, and did not properly monitor corrosion at pipe supports and at soil-to-air interface locations at the Michigan Bridgman Compressor station. In January, 2014, a TransCanada pipeline in Canada about 50 miles north of the North Dakota border ruptured and exploded. The local fire chief, Jeff French, described 20-30 foot high flames that were 10-15 feet wide shooting out of the ground. “You could see it from miles away,” French said. It took 12 hours to get the fire under control.
 

What

As a sign of good faith, TransCanada has agreed to bury the pipeline at approximately 100 feet in the area under the Potomac riverbed. Will Carey, an energy consultant with decades of gas industry experience, has shared that “the commitment to bury the pipeline deeper below the riverbed makes sense, and is a sign that TransCanada is compromising with the community on solutions.” Maryland Senator Richard Madaleno (D) has a different perspective. “Pipelines fail, pipelines leak. We’re putting it where it is potentially most dangerous, where pipelines have failed in other states. Why do that and risk all of the drinking water for the national capital region…? It’s just not a smart thing to do.” Carl Weimer, Executive Director of the Pipeline Safety Trust, has stated that, “new pipelines are failing even worse than the oldest pipelines.” According to Weimer, the rush to expand natural gas pipelines has resulted in fewer quality controls, and new transmission lines are failing at the same rate as those constructed in the 1940s. Brooke Harper, Maryland Policy Director with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and Environmental Chair for the Maryland State Conference NAACP, has stated, “This pipeline would bring no benefits whatsoever to the state of Marylanders, only risks.”
 

Why

According to John Reisenweber, executive director of the Jefferson County Development Authority in West Virginia, the region’s existing pipeline system is limited and “basically out of capacity.” West Virginia’s Secretary of Commerce, H. Wood Thrasher, has stated, “The TransCanada pipeline is fundamental for the economic future of the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. Having a steady and reliable source of natural gas is vital to attracting businesses and industry to our state.” David Smith, city manager for the Town of Hancock, also supports the pipeline, saying, “we’ve done our due diligence and feel that [the] company we’re dealing with has expertise in this field.” West Virginia’s Public Service Commission has granted permission to the Mountaineer Gas Company, that area’s largest natural gas provider, to begin construction of a pipeline between Berkeley Springs and Martinsburg, West Virginia, that will receive the gas from the Maryland connection. West Virginia has already been to court with some landowners, and the use of imminent domain to obtain access to the land required to install pipeline has been granted.
 

Where

In a nutshell, Governor Hogan is between a rock and a hard place – and that rock is in large part the karst topography bedrock of Western Maryland.  Karst terrain is limestone (calcium carbonate); erosion, fissures, and sinkholes are common features of karst terrain. In karst topography, rainwater infiltrates horizontal and vertical cracks, dissolving the limestone, and creating vertical fissures that widen and deepen over time. Permeating water continues the development of the underground cracks – underground stream channels form, vertical shafts may open, and cave systems may emerge. Upper Potomac Riverkeeper Brent Walls has stated that, “karst geology is very sensitive geology that poses greater risks than normal construction practices for pipelines.” In his position as Riverkeeper, Wells has stated that, “it doesn’t matter how far below the river the natural gas line is constructed, because if it ruptures the gas will seep through crevices in the soil and it would be nearly impossible to track where it goes.” The threat? The Potomac River serves as the primary source of drinking water for more than 6 million residents downstream.
Another concern voiced by many is the potential impact on Western Maryland’s economy if a rupture or leak were to occur. “Tourism is the economic driver in the [area],” said Cannon. “We cannot afford to damage our pristine environment.” Drilling would occur under a portion of the Potomac River listed as sensitive on the Nationwide Rivers Inventory, and the pipeline could potentially impact the C&O Canal, a National Historic Register site visited by millions of people every year.
 

How

Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) would be used to construct the section of the pipeline under the Potomac. HDD is used to install pipelines under bodies of water, roads, railways, buildings, and other structures. According to TransCanada, HDD is an “environmentally friendly approach method used to cross sensitive areas.” In HDD, temporary wetland mats are laid down on top of construction bore areas.  The pipeline is then installed using a three-phase process. First, a pilot hole is created by excavation via a downhole motor. In the second “pre-reaming” phase, the diameter of the underground path is increased to 12 inches with a “hole opener” that takes into account soil condition and density. In the third and final stage, “pullback,” the gas pipeline is fed into the reamed hole. According to TransCanada, a well-cap and swivel is placed which prevent any rotation of the pipeline. At the completion of HDD, TransCanada ensures restoration of the operating area. Tracy Cannon, an organizer with Eastern Panhandle Protectors, has stated that using HDD in karst topography would create pathways for water to drain down bore holes and dissolve the limestone around the piping. This could create sinkholes, resulting in subterranean ruptures. As recently as October, FERC had to clear Rover Pipeline to resume work at four HDD locations in Ohio after a 2 million gallon drilling fluid spill. FERC allowed Rover to resume only after third-party independent inspectors were established to oversee the HDDs and “further safeguard sensitive environmental features” to include the area’s karst topography. According to Cannon, even if there is no catastrophic accident while drilling into karst, the bedrock will be destabilized.
 

When

At present, as part of the permitting approval process FERC is requesting feedback that focuses on “the potential environmental effects, reasonable alternatives, and measures to avoid or lessen environmental impacts” – this input will be used to determine what issues need to be evaluated in the Environmental Assessment. Over the past year, Wells said he and his fellow advocates’ actions have slowed the timeline for the project. “We are pretty happy about that…they are actually considering alternate routes because they realize that the route that they have chosen could be in danger of being stopped,” he said. In terms of the MDE’s potential granting of the 401 Certificate, Maryland Environment Secretary Ben Grumbles has stated that, “we have requested additional information from the applicant on environmental impacts and engineering features,” and that “we are committed to protecting our precious Potomac River and the communities and resources that depend on it.”
 
Resources
TransCanada video demonstrating the HDD process is available at this link.

"Water is Life Rally and Concert" in Richmond Dec. 2

It’s time for the biggest public rally ever organized against the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines. Here’s our goal: To bring so many moms and dads and farmers and students to Richmond on Saturday December 2nd that we can literally form a human ring around the Capitol building and the Governor’s mansion.
This encirclement will be the first public action against the pipelines of its kind in Virginia’s history. After the rally, we’ll stick around for a concert at “The National” theater just two blocks away.
We have to be creative and loud on December 2nd because, frankly, time is running out. The State’s Water Control Board will hold final hearings in Richmond on the MVP (Dec 6-7) and the ACP (Dec 11-12). We’ll be putting pressure on the Water Control Board with our massive rally and we’ll be telling our new governor and House of Delegates that water is life and we intend to preserve it for all our children!

RSVP today! 

http://bit.ly/stop-va-pipelines

TAKE A BUS 

The Sierra Club Virginia Chapter is providing buses from three locations: Hampton Roads, Staunton, and Northern Virginia. Here are the details:

Hampton Roads

Northern Virginia

Pickup #1: Leesburg, VA

Pickup #2: Vienna, VA

Staunton

Harrisonburg / Charlottesville

Pickup #1: Harrisonburg

  • Time: 10:30 am
  • Location: JMU Memorial Hall, 395 South High Street, Harrisonburg, VA 22801. Bus stop on north side of Memorial Hall (near the softball field)
  • Charlottesville pickup location (11:15am): Giant parking Lot, Rivanna Ridge on Pantops
  • RSVP: http://vasierra.club/waterislifestauntonbus

Pickup #2: Charlottesville

Roanoke (newly added!)

FIND PARKING

Below is a map of parking in downtown Richmond. (Click here for a downloadable PDF).

 

 

The Belltower is at the intersection of 9th and Bank Street.

 

The National Theater is at the intersection of 7th and Broad Street.

 

##

Time to Resist the Potomac Pipeline

Two weeks ago, more than 300 hundred activists joined hand-in-hand on a bridge spanning the Potomac River, uniting West Virginia and Maryland in solidarity against TransCanada’s proposed fracked-gas pipeline under the Potomac.
The power and beauty of this moment brought me to tears and filled me with hope. When we are united, we can fight Big Oil and Gas and truly WIN!
Now that we’ve joined hands, it’s time to roll up our sleeves and stop this pipeline once and for all!
Chesapeake Climate Action Network, alongside other members of the “No Potomac Pipeline” coalition, will be holding community meetings throughout Western Maryland and West Virginia over the next couple weeks. Join us to learn the next steps in stopping the Potomac Pipeline! (Keep reading for meeting location/date details.)
After our historic fracking ban victory, Maryland is once again being threatened by fracked gas. TransCanada — the same company behind the Keystone XL pipeline, and who spilled over 16 thousand gallons of crude oil on South Dakota farmland — is trying to build a pipeline that would transport fracked gas between Pennsylvania and West Virginia. They want to do this with the shortest, cheapest, and most dangerous route possible. The “Eastern Panhandle Expansion” project would cut underneath the Potomac River that serves as the source of drinking water for millions of residents in our state and beyond.
Already, the oil companies are suing landowners to force the pipeline through their farmland. This pipeline would threaten the health of our drinking water and well-being of our communities. It would also deepen our dependence on dirty fossil fuels and fracking for years to come. By trying to force a pipeline through Sleepy Creek, Back Creek, and underneath the Potomac, we know that they are putting our families, our water, and our climate at risk.
We’re not going to let this happen.
Join us at a community meeting to learn how to stop this pipeline. During the meetings, we will talk about ways that we can raise our voices in our local communities, reach out to our neighbors, and make sure that our local elected leaders hear loud and clear that Marylanders say NO to the Potomac Pipeline.
Join us to learn how you can become part of a pipeline-free future for West Virginia and Maryland! Follow the links below to RSVP.
 
Eastern Panhandle: Wednesday, November 1, 6:30 pm in Martinsburg WV
Frederick County: Monday, November 6, 6:30 pm in Frederick MD
Washington County: Wednesday, November 8, 6:30 pm in Hagerstown MD
Western Maryland: Sunday, November 12, 4:00 pm in Frostburg MD

This FERC commissioner rejected the agency's approval for the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines

Late last Friday night, FERC issued certificates of approval for both the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines. It was a cowardly, horrific move for the agency to dump this news on a Friday night — but we didn’t expect much better from an agency now run by Trump’s fossil-fueled appointees.
However, there is an interesting side to this story. One FERC commissioner, Cheryl LaFleur, dissented with the others on their decision. This is the first time she has dissented on a pipeline application in her many years of service — ever. By contrast, the two commissioners who voted in favor of the pipelines were appointed barely a couple months ago.
Read her dissent below, or download a PDF here, and share widely. Stay tuned — big actions to come.

Statement of Commissioner Cheryl A. Lafleur on Order Issuing Certificates and Granting Abandoment Authority under CP15-554 et al.

“With the increasing abundance of domestic natural gas, the Commission plays a key role in considering applications for the construction of natural gas infrastructure to support the delivery of this important fuel source. Under the Certificate Policy Statement, which sets forth the Commission’s approach to evaluating proposed projects under Section 7 of the Natural Gas Act,the Commission evaluates in each case whether the benefits of the project as proposed by the applicant outweigh adverse effects on existing shippers, other pipelines and their captive customers, landowners, and surrounding communities.1 For each pipeline I have considered during my time at the Commission, I have tried to carefully apply this standard, evaluating the facts in the record to determine whether, on balance, each individual project is in the public interest.2 Today, the Commission is issuing orders that authorize the development of the Mountain Valley Pipeline Project/Equitrans Expansion Project (MVP) and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline Project (ACP). For the reasons set forth herein, I cannot conclude that either of these projects as proposed is in the public interest, and thus, I respectfully dissent.
“Deciding whether a project is in the public interest requires a careful balancing of the need for the project and its environmental impacts. In the case of the ACP and MVP projects, my balancing determination was heavily influenced by similarities in their respective routes, impact, and timing. ACP and MVP are proposed to be built in the same region with certain segments located in close geographic proximity. Collectively, they represent approximately 900 miles of new gas pipeline infrastructure through West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina, and will deliver 3.44 Bcf/d of natural gas to the Southeast. The record demonstrates that these two large projects will have similar, and significant, environmental impacts on the region. Both the ACP and MVP cross hundreds of miles of karst terrain, thousands of waterbodies, and many agricultural, residential, and commercial areas. Furthermore, the projects traverse many important cultural, historic, and natural resources, including the Appalachian National Scenic Trail and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Both projects appear to be receiving gas from the same location, and both deliver gas that can reach some common destination markets. Moreover, these projects are being developed under similar development schedules, as further evidenced by the Commission acting on them concurrently today.3 Given these similarities and overlapping issues, I believe it is appropriate to balance the collective environmental impacts of these projects on the Appalachian region against the economic need for the projects. In so doing, I am not persuaded that both of these projects as proposed are in the public interest.
“I am particularly troubled by the approval of these projects because I believe that the records demonstrate that there may be alternative approaches that could provide significant environmental advantages over their construction as proposed. As part of its alternatives analysis, Commission staff requested that ACP evaluate an MVP Merged Systems Alternative that would serve the capacity of both projects.4 This alternative would largely follow the MVP route to deliver the capacity of both ACP and MVP in a single large diameter pipeline. Commission staff identifies significant environmental advantages of utilizing this alternative. For example, the MVP Merged Systems Alternative would be 173 miles shorter than the cumulative mileage of both projects individually. This alternative would also increase collocation with existing utility rights-of-way, avoid the Monongahela National Forest and the George Washington National Forest, reduce the number of crossings of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail and Blue Ridge Parkway, and reduce the amount of construction in karst topography. Commission staff eliminated this alternative from further consideration because it failed to meet the project’s objectives, in particular that it would “result in a significant delay to the delivery of the 3.44 Bcf/d of natural gas to the proposed customers of both ACP and MVP”5 due to the significant time for the planning and design that would be necessary to develop a revised project proposal.6
“Similarly, in the MVP FEIS, Commission staff evaluated a single pipeline alternative to the MVP project that would utilize the proposed ACP to serve MVP’s capacity needs.7 While this alternative was found to have certain environmental disadvantages, such as the need for additional compression to deliver the additional gas, the EIS acknowledges that this alternative would “essentially eliminate all environmental impacts on resources along the currently proposed MVP route.”8
“I recognize that the two alternatives described above were eliminated from further consideration because they were deemed not to meet each project’s specific stated goals. However, I believe that these alternatives demonstrate that the regional needs that these pipelines address may be met through alternative approaches that have significantly fewer environmental impacts.
 
1. Certification of New Interstate Natural Gas Pipeline Facilities, 88 FERC ¶ 61,227 (1999) (Certificate Policy Statement), order on clarification, 90 FERC ¶ 61,128, order on clarification, 92 FERC ¶ 61,094 (2000); 15 U.S.C. 717h (Section 7(c) of the Natural Gas Act
provides that no natural gas company shall transport natural gas or construct any facilities for such transportation without a certificate of public convenience and necessity.).
2. See Millenium Pipeline Company, L.L.C., 140 FERC ¶ 61,045 (2012) (LaFleur, Comm’r, dissenting)
3. ACP and MVP filed their applications for approval pursuant to section7(c) of the Natural Gas Act on September 18, 2015 and
October 23, 2015, respectively.
4. ACP Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) at 3-6 – 3-9.
5. Id. at 3-9.
6. Staff also found that this alternative would likely limit the ability to provide additional gas to the projects’ customers, another of the stated goals for the original proposal. Id.
7 MVP FEIS at 3-14.
8 Id

Momentum is Growing in the Fight against Atlantic Coast & Mountain Valley Pipelines

Note: If you have not already, please read the Summer 2017 Pipeline Fighter installment as part of an ongoing series tracking Virginia’s pipeline resistance movement exclusively on the CCAN Blog Page. 
On September 13 and 14, Virginians from across the Commonwealth made environmental movement history in the state. For two consecutive days of action, the ever-growing coalition in opposition to the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast Pipelines gathered at the same time at each of the Commonwealth’s seven Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) offices, spanning every corner of Virginia.
The participants, spanning across the entirety of the Commonwealth, included faith leaders from diverse traditions, landowners, military veterans, Appalachian trail enthusiasts, climate refugees, students, and environmentalists. These groups came together in a never-before seen level of statewide coordination with one unified message: Governor McAuliffe’s DEQ must keep its original promise to the public and conduct site-specific permitting for each of the waterways crossed by these two massive fracked-gas pipelines. 
This would follow the precedent set by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s use of section 401 of the Clean Water Act to to stop the dangerous Constitution pipeline in 2014, a decision upheld by a Federal Appeals Court in August.
At noon on Wednesday, September 13, hundreds of faith and spiritual elders gathered at every single DEQ office in Virginia: Richmond, Abingdon, Woodbridge, Glen Allen, Roanoke, Virginia Beach, and Harrisonburg, where they gathered in an interfaith prayer service. In Roanoke, congregants joined in song, in Richmond participants witnessed a traditional African water libation, to highlight the central role of water, and in Virginia Beach climate refugees fleeing Hurricane Irma in Florida were honored quests in the prayer ceremony. Each ceremony included a moment of silence for those devastated by both Hurricane Harvey and Irma, both of which made landfall in the USA in the weeks and days leading up to the protest.
On September 14 at noon, participants once again gathered at all seven DEQ offices — this time with a different tone. Each location featured a press conference and a rally, where community leaders, landowners, scientists, and doctors called upon the Governor and the DEQ to do their jobs and protect Virginia’s waterways and most vulnerable communities from the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines. 
Representatives from each location then delivered a letter to a DEQ agency representative, detailing the specific regional concerns they had with fracked-gas infrastructure projects.
At the DEQ Central Headquarters in Richmond, nineteen people linked hands in front of the main entrance of the door, supported by the cheers and chants of dozens of supporters, as they refused to leave until the pipelines were stopped. The “sit-in” caused the headquarters to functionally be on lockdown for over an hour and half until the activists were all arrested and issued court summons’ on the spot.  
It’s clear that our protests made a real difference. In the days that followed these actions, both North Carolina and West Virginia announced significant setbacks in the permitting process of these pipelines.
Yet inexplicably, the Virginia DEQ has since doubled-down on its proposed timeline — with permits potentially being issued as early as November. 
Now, more than ever, we need to show the Governor and the DEQ that all Virginians of conscience stand as an unwavering united front against these pipelines that would wreak havoc on our water, climate, and most vulnerable communities.
Let your voice be heard TODAY, and call Governor McAuliffe’s office and tell him No ACP, NO MVP, NO PIPELINES.
 

Digging Deeper: How FERC Fails the Public on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline

On July 21, Federal regulators issued a deeply-flawed final environmental review for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). We know that the pipeline would threaten hundreds of bodies of water, putting the drinking water for thousands of communities at risk. We also know that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline would fuel climate disaster while blocking the transition we urgently need to clean energy and efficiency solutions. It is not surprising that this review from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is completely inadequate, given what we have seen in the past.
But it’s worth breaking down just how FERC gets it wrong on climate change — and what else it completely ignores.

Climate Change

The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) continues to ignore the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. It entirely fails to consider emissions from fracking that this massive pipeline would trigger, and seriously discounts the emissions from burning the natural gas.
FERC concludes that the ACP would emit approximately 30 million tons per year of CO2 equivalent. This number is less than half of the emissions the ACP would actually trigger. A proper analysis by our friends at Oil Change International found that the ACP would cause 68 million metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution per year, which is the equivalent of 20 U.S. coal plants or over 14 million vehicles on the road.
FERC insists, as it has in past analyses, that “the upstream production and downstream combustion of gas is not causally connected [to the ACP] because the production and end-use would occur with or without the projects.”
This claim would be laughable if the consequences of climate change weren’t so severe.
FERC is ignoring its own role in approving all interstate gas pipelines, which are essential for the expanding gas production in the Appalachian basin. Even if you accept FERC’s premise that fracking for gas would occur without the ACP, which we don’t, you can’t ignore the fact that new pipelines generally trigger new fracking. And it’s FERC that approves all new interstate pipelines. A study by Oil Change International found that the Appalachian basin is the region with the greatest potential for growth in dangerous fracking, and developers are eager for pipelines to make high levels of fracking economical. There are currently 19 pipelines proposed in this region being considered by FERC. These pipelines would be a global warming bomb.
For the first time, FERC included a discussion of the Clean Power Plan in its review — but it provided no context or analysis for how the pipeline would impact a state’s goal under the plan. The purpose of the National Environmental Policy Act is to meaningfully inform the public about the consequences of a major federal action before it takes places. Referencing the Clean Power Plan for the first time with no context does not provide meaningful information the public needs to evaluate the ACP and falls short of NEPA.   
The draft analysis included a discussion of why the Council on Environmental Quality’s climate guidance, issued under the Obama Administration, didn’t apply to the ACP. FERC removed that discussion in this final draft. Instead it inserted a footnote discussing Trump’s executive order directing federal agencies to not consider indirect climate impacts in their environmental reviews, such as the increased fracking that would come with the ACP.
These pipelines are meant to last 50 years or more, according to NPR. They are presented as climate-friendly alternatives to coal, but they serve only to lock us into a new form of dangerous fossil fuel instead. Methane, the primary component of natural gas, is 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. The ACP would lock us into decades of reliance on fossil fuels when we know we need to move to clean sources of energy, like wind and solar.

Ridgetop Removal

The FEIS does not require Dominion to make any changes to minimize ridgetop removal, period.
Experts studied the draft EIS to find that the construction of this pipeline would result in 38 miles of mountain ridgetop removal.  For perspective, the height equivalent of a five-story building would be erased in places from fully forested and ancient mountains, much of it near the treasured Appalachian Trail.
Despite the outcry and unimaginable impacts from removing miles of ridgetops, not much changed in FERC’s final review. FERC still expects construction of the pipeline to require 125 feet of clearing width in mountainous regions. The agency directly states that “clearing and grading . . . would level the right-of-way surface.”
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. The FEIS, for the first time,  tells us definitively that “excess rock and spoil would be hauled off to an approved disposal location or used a beneficial reuse.” Yet Dominion and FERC still have provided no plan for dealing with this overburden and ensuring that it doesn’t poison our waterways.

Renewable Energy 

The bottom-line is this: In its determination of “need,” FERC fully fails to even consider renewable energy as an alternative to this project.
If Dominion wants to bring more energy to Virginians, it should be focusing on clean energy, like expanding its pilot offshore wind program and opening the door to widespread community solar. The last thing Virginia needs is more natural gas infrastructure.
As Southern Environmental Law Center Senior Attorney Greg Buppert stated, “It’s FERC’s responsibility to determine if this pipeline is a public necessity before it allows developers to take private property, clear forests, and carve up mountainsides. Mounting evidence shows that it is not.”
For our climate and our future, we must stop this pipeline.

Click HERE to see actions you can take right now.

 
Photo at the top from Flickr user cool revolution with a Creative Commons license. 

From Standing Rock to Hancock: Camp Out To Oppose The Potomac Pipeline!

From Standing Rock to Hancock, Maryland, citizens are rising up to resist fracked-gas pipelines in their communities. That’s right: Western Maryland is now under threat from a Dakota-esque pipeline. It’s being proposed by the infamous energy giant TransCanada of Keystone XL fame.
TransCanada — the same company that recently spilled over 16 thousand gallons of crude oil on South Dakota farmland — now wants to build a pipeline that would transport fracked gas between Pennsylvania and West Virginia.They want to do this with the shortest, cheapest, and most dangerous route possible. The Eastern Panhandle Pipeline expansion project would cut through Hancock, Maryland and underneath the Potomac River that serves as the source of drinking water for millions of residents in our state and the DC suburbs.
We are not going to allow this to happen.
This summer, we are forming a resistance to stop the Pipeline under the Potomac. We will do this by staging camp outs along the C&O Canal throughout the summer to draw attention to the many groups, concerned citizens, and elected officials who are opposed to endangering the drinking water of millions for a pipeline that wouldn’t even benefit Maryland citizens. We’ll be calling on Governor Hogan to deny the permit that would allow TransCanada to drill under the Potomac in Maryland.
We were able to ban fracking in Maryland because each one of you dedicated your time, your energy, and your activism to protect Maryland from fracking. Now it’s time once again to roll up our sleeves and call on Governor Hogan to complete the fracking ban — which means stopping this pipeline!
Sign up to camp out today for a frack-free future tomorrow.
Here are the details:
Weekend 1
Date: Friday/Saturday, June 30-July 1
Location: McCoy’s Ferry Campground
Start Time: 12:00 pm
Sponsoring Organization: Potomac Riverkeepers
Organizational Contact: Brent Walls, Brent@potomacriverkeeper.org
Weekend 2
Date: Saturday, July 8th
Location: McCoy’s Ferry Campground
Start Time: 1:00 p.m.
Sponsoring Organization: Food and Water Watch
Organizational Contact: Rianna Eckel, reckel@fwwatch.org
Weekend 3
Date: Friday, July 14th
Location: Paw Paw Campground
Start Time: 2:00 pm
Details: Join for a splashing good time in the Potomac River at the Paw Paw Campground along the C&O canal. Bring your family and friends to a great swimming hole on the Potomac and enjoy some hot dogs and hamburgers. Stay the night at the campgrounds and hear more about our fight against the pipeline under the Potomac. The following morning there will be a guided talk of the Paw Paw Tunnel by the National Park Service. The goal is to have enough people at this event to stretch across the Potomac River from Maryland to West Virginia to show that we stand as a united front.
Sponsoring Organization: Potomac Riverkeepers
Organizational Contact: Brent Walls, Brent@potomacriverkeeper.org
Weekend 4
Date: Friday, July 21st
Location: C&O Canal Boat Launch (just past the 120 mile marker)
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Sponsoring Organization: Eastern Panhandle Protectors
Organizational Contact: Laura Steepleton, lnsteep@gmail.com
Weekend 5
Date: Friday, July 28th
Location: Antietam Creek Campsite
Start Time: 12:00 p.m.
Sponsoring Organization: Chesapeake Climate Action Network
Organizational Contact: Brooke Harper, brooke@chesapeakeclimate.org
Weekend 6
Date: Saturday, August 5th
Location: McCoys Ferry Campground
Start Time: 1:00 p.m.
Details: Activities will include our outings program: hiking, bike tours, etc. – Highlighting our Climate Parents program. 
Sponsoring Organization: The Sierra Club Maryland Chapter
Organizational Contact: Zack Gerdes, Zack.Gerdes@mdsierra.org
Click here to sign up for a campout weekend — or email the organizers (listed above) directly!

Appalachian Trail Hikers Protest McAuliffe’s Support of Fracked Gas Pipelines

Dozens of hikers in full backpacking gear rally and deliver compasses to Governor, demanding a new “course” on fracking and pipelines that would harm iconic trail

 
RICHMOND, VA – Dozens of Appalachian Trail hikers in full backpacking gear rallied outside Governor Terry McAuliffe’s office on June 2 — the eve of National Trails Day — to oppose the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and Mountain Valley Pipeline. The hikers highlighted the fact that both pipelines for fracked-gas, each of which would cross the Appalachian Trail, would severely impact the viewsheds and water sources along the iconic trail. Following the protest, the hikers delivered dozens of compasses to the Governor’s office, demanding that he chart a new direction for the state.
Companies building the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast Pipelines would lay nearly 1,000 miles of fracked-gas pipeline infrastructure across West Virginia and the Commonwealth, threatening hundreds of waterways and endangered species. Recent data show that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, supported by McAuliffe and proposed by controversial power company Dominion Energy, would blast away the tops of 38 miles of mountain ridges in West Virginia and Virginia, much of it near the Appalachian Trail. The proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline would likewise deforest and harm valleys and mountains along the trail, causing permanent damage to iconic views.
“The Mountain Valley Pipeline and Atlantic Coast Pipeline are both unnecessary and dangerous projects,” said Jessica Sims, lifelong hiker from Midlothian, Virginia. “They would be irreversibly traumatic to Virginia’s landscape — physical manifestations of disregard for the environment. They are attacks on that which I love: Virginia, the Appalachian Trail, the Blue Ridge Mountains, our park systems, our tourism industry, our water, our ecosystems and our history.”
“I know these mountains, these waters, these forests, and how fragile they are,” said Kathleen “Kit” Johnston, a member of Wild Virginia and Appalachian Voices from Reva, Virginia. “That’s why McAuliffe must say NO to cutting hundreds of miles of pipeline access under and through our ancient mountains, invaluable forests, and irreplaceable waters.”
Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), which McAuliffe oversees, recently abandoned its promise to conduct thorough, site-specific reviews of the impacts that the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines would have on water quality. Now, the agency wants to abdicate that responsibility to President Trump’s Army Corps of Engineers, which is expected to issue a blanket one-size-fits-all permit that does not look at each individual stream crossing, and therefore does not fully protect these water bodies.
“I’ve been a proud hiker of the Appalachian Trail since I was a kid,” said Mike Tidwell, member of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. “But with the Governor’s support, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline for fracked gas would decapitate mountains within view of the trail and plow through geologically fragile areas. The pipelines would threaten not only water along the trail, but also water for farmers and communities across 13 counties. This is horrifying, and must be stopped.”
The hikers also referred to the climate change impacts of the pipelines. The two pipelines would together create annual greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to doubling all of Virginia’s current power plants combined. If built, these pipelines would lock us into another generation of unacceptable and unnecessary fossil fuel extractions.
“Climate change threatens our mountains, our forests, our rivers, and the entire ecosystem that we depend on,” said Lorne Stockman, lifelong hiker from Staunton, Virginia and senior researcher at Oil Change International. “These pipelines will not only disrupt the Appalachian Trail, but also fuel the destruction of our climate. With Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Accord, it is up to us to defend our future and stopping these pipelines is at the top of our pack list.”
This rally was one of the largest political acts ever in Richmond held by defenders of the Appalachian Trail.

 
CONTACT:
Stephanie Weber, Virginia Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network; stephanie@chesapeakeclimate.org; 757-871-8639
Denise Robbins, Communications Director, Chesapeake Climate Action Network; denise@chesapeakeclimate.org; 608-620-8819

McAuliffe officials reverse promise on pipelines. Time to act.

Seven weeks ago, we applauded the McAuliffe Administration’s announcement that it would conduct thorough, site-specific reviews of the impacts that the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines would have on water quality. After years of public pressure, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) was finally planning to give these massive pipelines the thorough environmental review they deserve.
On Wednesday, DEQ abandoned that promise. 
The agency says it made a mistake. It was never planning to look at the pipelines’ impacts to Virginia streams, DEQ now says. Instead, the agency wants to abdicate that responsibility to President Trump’s Army Corps of Engineers, which is expected to issue a blanket one-size-fits-all permit that does not look at each individual stream crossing, and therefore does not fully protect these water bodies.
This is Gov. McAuliffe’s responsibility! DEQ works for him. Tell McAuliffe the state MUST do more to protect VA’s waterways.
Back in April, the DEQ was unequivocal. We will look “at each wetland, stream crossing … separately, to determine specific requirements that would be necessary” to protect Virginia waterways, a DEQ spokesperson told the Roanoke Times.
This was hopeful news. If the DEQ carries out thorough, site-specific reviews, we believe it will have had no choice but to reject these disastrous pipelines. There’s no doubt that building the pipelines across steep, well-watered, forested mountain landscapes will harm water resources, including heavy sedimentation of streams, alteration of runoff patterns and stream channels, disturbance of groundwater flow, and damage to springs and water supplies.

The Army Corps process does not involve site-specific analyses. We have no confidence that the Corps’ permit will be sufficient for such a complex project across the state’s steepest mountains. The DEQ is evading its responsibility to conduct thorough reviews of all threats to water quality posed by these pipeline projects.
The state must do more to protect Virginia’s waterways from pipelines. Call McAuliffe today.
 

Governor McAuliffe Needs A Compass. We'll Give It To Him.

I’ve been a proud hiker of the Appalachian Trail since I was a boy. And I always take my trusty compass. It’s gotten me out of lots of jams on the trail.
Now, on June 2nd, on the eve of National Trails Day, I want to invite you – my fellow Virginia trail hikers — to Governor Terry McAuliffe’s house so we can give HIM a compass. The Governor supports two massive pipelines for fracked gas that, if built, would dramatically harm the Appalachian Trail. Terry McAuliffe, in other words, is clearly LOST, and he needs our help. Come to Richmond on June 2nd with all your backpacking gear – and bring a compass to give the Governor.
I’m a member of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, and there are three things hikers like me depend on.
The first is access to clean, reliable water along the trail. Without water, we cannot hike.
The second is our appreciation for beautiful mountain vistas. That’s why we hike. Along the Virginia AT, those vistas include places like Angel’s Rest, the Dragon Tooth, and Kelly Knob.
But the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline for fracked gas could harm all this, each crossing the AT with great impact. With the Governor’s support, companies like Dominion Energy want to plow these pipelines through geologically fragile areas that could threaten not only water along the trail, but water for farmers and communities across 13 counties.
As for vistas, this is horrifying: the companies want to clear cut and then blast off the tops of at least 38 miles of ridgetops – some within view of the AT — across Virginia and West Virginia to make room for the pipelines’ wide paths. They will decapitate these mountains. And the views and ecological health of places like Angel’s Rest and Dragon Tooth will be severely impacted.
Which is why Governor McAuliffe needs the third thing critical to hikers: a compass! He needs to chart a new course that opposes these pipelines and protects our Appalachian Trail.
Won’t you join me on Friday June 2nd, in Richmond? We’ll give the Governor our compasses and ask him to do the right thing. 

RSVP TODAY!

 
If you can’t make it to Richmond, give McAuliffe a call right now to tell him to REJECT these pipelines. Or, share this video with all your friends: