Community Victory: Chesapeake City Council Denies Major Rezoning, Rejects Data Center and Virginia Natural Gas’s Compressor Station 

Council vote marks major win for environmental justice and public health as city rejects plans to locate polluting facilities in vulnerable neighborhoods

CHESAPEAKE, VA – In a landmark decision for environmental justice and community health, the Chesapeake City Council voted Tuesday night to deny a sweeping rezoning request from Virginia Natural Gas (VNG) that would have converted VNG properties to industrial use, paving the way for more polluting industry in the area. This decisive rejection is a major win for residents and a clear rebuke of the proposed compressor station, which would have posed serious risks to local residential neighborhoods. The vote follows a concerted advocacy campaign from Eva Gardens and Crestwood civic leagues, Chesapeake residents, and environmental groups, who raised urgent concerns about pollution, safety, and the disproportionate burden placed on already disadvantaged communities.

The proposed Chesapeake Compressor Station would have pumped gas through multiple pipelines – such as the Virginia Reliability Pipeline and the Southside Connector Pipeline– threatening neighborhoods including Georgetown, Gilmerton, Crestwood, Eva Gardens, Belvin Heights, and the Westover Trailer Mobile community. Georgetown residents have tirelessly advocated against the Southside Connector pipeline, raising concerns about pollution, safety, and the disproportionate burden placed on already disadvantaged communities. 

Compressor stations are known sources of air pollutants and greenhouse gases — including methane, volatile organic compounds, and carcinogens like benzene — that degrade air quality, harm health, and contribute to climate change. The constant noise and risk of leaks, fires, or explosions make these facilities especially dangerous in densely populated or vulnerable communities. Tuesday night’s meeting also saw the council chambers packed with community members who spoke out forcefully against the first large data center in Hampton Roads, citing concerns about environmental impacts and threats to local quality of life. Residents made it clear that they do not want their neighborhoods to become dumping grounds for a “dirty data center” that fuels climate change without requirements to run on clean energy. 

Tuesday’s vote is a resounding affirmation of the community’s right to clean air, safety, and meaningful participation in decisions that affect their future. As environmental protections are under attack, the city council’s decision shows local leaders are listening to residents and prioritizing environmental justice and the health and well-being of our communities. 

In reaction to the City Council decision, Chesapeake residents and advocates released the following statements:

“This is a win for humanity, health, environmental justice, and a prosperous life for generations to come,” said Joseph Davis, Eva Gardens Civic League’s President. “This will allow our community to avoid exposure to daily toxic pollutants, noise, and volatile organic compounds that lower air quality, which are linked to asthma, heart disease, diabetes, lung disease (COPD), and cancer. By voting down the compressor project and the M1 light industry application, we would not add any more toxic pollutants and chemical dispersion within our communities, daycares, and schools. I was happy to see City Council Members value their citizens’ humanity, health, and well-being for long lives.”

“As a resident of Eva Gardens, I am happy that the city council acknowledged the possible dangers associated with VNG’s request and voted against their hazardous proposal,” said Sarah Eason Williams, Resident of Eva Gardens. “Research clearly shows the harmful effects of compressor stations on the environment and human health. The neighborhood owes a debt of gratitude to the diligent efforts of Mr. Joseph and Mrs. Cheryl Davis, the leaders of our civic league, as well as others who were in attendance.”

“The Chesapeake City Council heard the people and delivered a win for generations when they denied Virginia Natural Gas’ rezoning application to build two compressor units in the city that would disproportionately impact marginalized communities. The value of this victory cannot be overstated since it was crucial to the buildout of the Virginia Reliability Project (a massive fracked gas pipeline), essentially rendering the pipeline project dead,” said Lynn Godfrey, Environmental Justice Community Leader. 

“The city council’s decision to reject the compressor station and data center sends a clear message: no community should be a sacrifice zone for polluting industries,” said Leianis Gunn, Hampton Roads Organizer at Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “This victory belongs to the people of Chesapeake who stood up for their health, safety, and future. Environmental justice means no single neighborhood bears more than its share of pollution. Chesapeake took a bold step towards that vision.”

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Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the first grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in the Chesapeake Bay region. Founded in 2002, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC.

We’ve Stopped Pipelines Before, Let’s Do It Again: Join the Fight Against the Dangerous MVP Southgate Extension

A blog by Kidest, CCAN’s Virginia Communications Manager

Kidest at MVP Rally in 2021 (second row, third person from right), photo courtesy of Will Kerner Photography

My journey as a Virginia climate activist began as a college intern in the fight against the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a battle we won, proving that community power can defeat even the most well-funded fossil fuel interests. That victory taught me that Virginians can defeat giant corporations that seek to pollute our communities, and I’ve found my people.

Since then, I’ve witnessed the defeat of the polluting Chickahominy gas plant and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with neighbors as we organized against the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) Southgate extension. When the first permit for Southgate was denied in 2021, it felt like another victory for the people and the planet. But with new natural gas pipelines being proposed across Virginia, the pressure on our communities and environment is only increasing. The fight is far from over, we need to act now – together!

A Dangerous Pipeline, A Bad Deal Repackaged

The MVP Southgate extension is a proposed 31-mile natural gas pipeline that would snake from Pittsylvania County, Virginia, into Rockingham County, North Carolina. The developers claim it’s necessary to meet “growing public need” for natural gas, touting contracts with Duke Energy and PSNC Energy. But as someone who’s seen these justifications before, I know this is not about meeting real community needs, but about locking our region into decades of fossil fuel dependence.

Community Resistance to the MVP on the Pipeline Route, photo courtesy of Appalachians Against Pipelines

Right now, the Southgate extension is undergoing a crucial permit application review, and your voice is needed! The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has opened a 30-day public comment period, ending May 30, 2025, for MVP Southgate’s request for a Clean Water Act permit. This permit would allow the pipeline to negatively affect our streams and wetlands, which our communities depend on in both Virginia and North Carolina.

Join us in advocating against this dangerous pipeline and submit comments to the US Army Corps of Engineers in opposition to the project using the how to guide here. 

The pipeline’s original plan was even more destructive, spanning 75 miles and requiring a massive compressor station in a predominantly Black community near Chatham, Virginia. In 2021, the Chatham community stood up to oppose the toxic pollutants that would have come from the then-proposed Lambert Compressor Station, leading the Virginia Air Pollution Board to reject an air permit based on environmental justice concerns. This win, however, was sadly short-lived. In 2023, MVP submitted a new project plan that doesn’t include the Lambert Compressor Station. The new plan now has a shorter route and a wider pipe, but these tweaks do not reduce the threat to our communities and our environment. 

MVP’s Track record: Community Harm and Environmental Destruction

MVP’s track record is a warning. Construction of the main pipeline has already destroyed forests, seized private property, and violated water regulations hundreds of times. The MVP Southgate extension brings more concerns about the possibility of repeated environmental violations. Erosion from construction threatens groundwater and private wells, which are vital in our rural communities. Even worse, the risk of pipeline toxic leaks and explosions puts homes and lives in danger within a half-mile of the pipeline route. 

These are not just hypothetical risks. MVP’s mainline has racked up over 350 water quality violations, many affecting rivers and streams that supply drinking water. The pipeline also turns communities, often Black, Indigenous, and low-income, into “sacrifice zones”, bearing the brunt of pollution and health risks from fossil fuel infrastructure. 

People-Powered Organizing & Community Resistance Defeated Southgate Before

Rally in Richmond to Stop MVP and Manchin’s Dirty Deal June 2023

The denial of the first MVP Southgate extension air permit in 2021 was no accident, it was the result of relentless organizing by Pittsylvania residents and Virginians advocating for healthier communities. Just last month, thousands of Virginians submitted comments to our Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) opposing the project. In fact, our lawmakers have also recognized MVP’s history of violations and safety issues. 

I’ve seen what’s possible when we come together, we’ve stopped pipelines before, and we can do it again! We have the opportunity to speak out and refuse to let our state become a dumping ground for fossil fuel interests. Your comments will help determine if a public hearing is needed and whether this project serves our communities and the public interest.

Join us and submit a comment to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, urging them to deny the Section 404 permit for the MVP Southgate extension. You can access our comment guide here. 

Click Here for Instructions on How to Submit a Comment!

About the author: Kidest is a communications strategist, storyteller, and environmental justice advocate who brings over six years of experience at the intersection of organizing, narrative change, and digital advocacy. She believes creative storytelling is a powerful tool for advancing grassroots movements, shifting public narratives, and influencing policy decisions.

Based in Richmond, Virginia, Kidest has worked alongside local organizations to amplify marginalized voices and advocate for policies that center the needs of Black communities and other historically excluded groups.

Virginia Withholds Key Permit for “Header Injustice Project”

CCAN Statement: “This was a needed win in these trying times”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 26, 2020
CONTACT:
Denise Robbins, Communications Director, denise@chesapeakeclimate.org, 240-630-1889
Anne Havemann, General Counsel, anne@chesapeakeclimate.org, 240-630-2146
Lauren Landis, Grassroots Coordinator, lauren@chesapeakeclimate.org, 757-634-9567

Richmond, VA — Today, the Virginia State Corporation Commission (SCC) issued a preliminary ruling against a controversial fracked-gas expansion project referred to as the “Header Injustice Project” by affected communities. Under the terms of the decision, the utility may re-apply for a permit but must comply with certain conditions that could prove extremely difficult to meet.  If the utility, Virginia Natural Gas (VNG), can show by December 31, 2020, that its main customer — the 1050-megawatt C4GT gas plant — has the financing it needs to build, VNG must also submit information about needed environmental justice analyses and confirm that it will protect VNG’s customers from unnecessary rate increases. 

The second condition related to cost protections might prove especially challenging for VNG to meet. To shield VNG’s customers from “holding the bag” for the costs of the project should the gas plant cease operation, the Commission is requiring that the capital cost of the project must be recovered over 20 years instead of the 70 years proposed. VNG’s own rebuttal testimony recognized that “[t]here is a very real risk that if the entire cost of the Project is required to be amortized over 20 years that the Project will be cost prohibitive and not be completed.” 

The Commission found that there was a “very real risk” that C4GT might shut down before VNG fully recovered the costs of the Project. In its 2020 session, the Virginia General Assembly voted to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), which will raise the cost of all carbon-emitting facilities in Virginia, making it more difficult for merchant facilities like C4GT, which sell energy and capacity into the regional power grid, to make a profit. 

The Chesapeake Climate Action Network and the Sierra Club, represented by Appalachian Mountain Advocates, intervened in the proceeding and consistently raised concerns about the potential impacts to ratepayers from the proposed 70-year cost-recovery period, among other issues. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation also intervened as did the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of Appalachian Voices and Virginia Interfaith Power & Light. 

Anne Havemann, CCAN General Counsel, stated:

“This was a needed win in these trying times. The Header Injustice Project is so named because it is an absolute travesty in terms of environmental justice. Major components would go through majority-minority communities, and virtual hearings were held about an issue that would impact areas that have limited internet access. As a result, these communities, with little knowledge or say in the project, would have been the worst impacted by its harms: toxic air pollution, noise, threats of explosion. This is the textbook definition of environmental racism. 

“But, at the end of the day, it was the arguments around need and cost that moved the needle. This decision recognizes that there is great risk in continuing investments in fossil fuel infrastructure and affirms that ratepayers should not be forced to subsidize these projects. Virginia is on the pathway to 100% clean electricity. Fracked gas should no longer enter the equation. 

“We thank the SCC Commissioners who did the right thing today. The tide is turning in Virginia toward clean energy and toward justice. We hope that Governor Northam is paying attention and will use his authority to reject the other terrible fracked-gas projects proposed in the Commonwealth, including Dominion’s Buckingham Compressor Station.” 

Additional information: 

Virginia Natural Gas is calling the proposal the “Header Improvement Project.” But the organizations fighting it call it the “Header Injustice Project” because it would harm countless communities. 

The proposal is for three new gas pipelines, totaling 24 miles, and three new or expanded gas compressor stations from Northern Virginia, through the middle of the state, and to the shore in Hampton Roads. The primary purpose of HIP is to supply gas to the C4GT merchant gas plant proposed for Charles County City. This merchant plant would be located about a mile from the proposed Chickahominy Power Station, a separate gas-fired merchant power plant that would be the largest in the state of Virginia. VNG wants this network of fracked-gas infrastructure to be up and running by the end of 2022.

The project has been tangled in justice concerns from the beginning. The massive gas plant the project is intended to serve is one of two such plants proposed  to be built in a community with higher minority populations than the Virginia average. And one key component of the HIP project itself — the Gidley Compressor Station — is also proposed for a predominantly Black community. Yet there has been no environmental justice review carried out. 

Furthermore, holding regulatory hearings for the project during the COVID-19 pandemic raised concerns in itself because internet coverage in the area surrounding the Gidley Compressor falls below the state average, leaving residents unable to access information and participate in the process. The first hearing on the HIP proposal was held up by technical issues.

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 A coalition called the Stop the Abuse of Virginian Energy (SAVE) Coalition has formed to stop this project. Learn more here: www.stophip.org. 

The Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the first grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in the Chesapeake Bay region. For 17 years, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. To learn more, visit www.chesapeakeclimate.org