While those in Washington debate the proposed Keystone Pipeline, running oil from Canada down to Texas Gulf Coast, a similar project is trying to get approved here in Virginia – the 550-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline. However, locals are not giving up their land and scenic views so easily.
While those in Washington debate the proposed Keystone Pipeline, running oil from Canada down to Texas Gulf Coast, a similar project is trying to get approved here in Virginia – the 550-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline. However, locals are not giving up their land and scenic views so easily.
This Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) would run natural gas from Harrison Co., West Virginia to Greenville Co., Virginia, then down to eastern North Carolina.
Dominion Virginia Power has switched from coal-fired power stations to gas-fired power stations due to new federal clean air regulations.
“[Natural gas] when burned produces significantly lower emissions than coal, including just half the carbon,” said Frank Mack, manager of Dominion Transmission Communications at Dominion Energy. “Generating electricity by natural gas also is less expensive than with coal, and any savings would be passed along to customers.”
Though natural gas is said to be better for the environment than coal, many companies and citizens are instead pushing towards more green initiatives.
This raises the question as to why these massive energy pipelines really need to be built when more and more people are looking to alternative energy sources.
“Energy prices [recently] have tanked and the price of natural gas has tanked, so all of a sudden energy and infrastructure companies are quickly re-evaluating investments that they have made to extract and transport energy because it appears that an energy bubble has burst,” said Ernie Reed, President & Conservation Director at the local environmental group Wild Virginia.
The value of natural gas continues to be volatile as warm weather and increased production reduces costs.
“More people are looking at adding solar capacity to homes and communities. People are conserving more, and so Dominion has really projected an artificial demand in terms of getting this built.”
The ACP, formerly named the Southeast Reliability Project, claims its purpose is to provide clean and affordable gas to the homes and businesses of the Southeast. But activists believe the reality is most of the gas would be for export overseas.
“The size of this pipeline and the volume that it can move is so huge, so far in excess of any markets in the southeast,” according to Reed. “It’s clearly just a ploy, an economic grab using eminent domain across the people’s properties so that they can sell gas to the highest bidder overseas.”
Like Keystone, there is a great deal of opposition and concern for the possible construction of this pipeline. Most of the concern is coming from Western VA’s scenic Shenandoah Valley, where a huge chunk of the pipeline is supposed to run.
One concern surrounding the pipeline is the negative impact it would have on tourism in several of the counties in the area, which in turn could significantly hurt their economies.
“[Much of] the Shenandoah Valley[‘s local economy] is dependent on outdoor recreation and tourism, so it is important to keep our national forest in a very natural state so that people will want to come and visit and spend money during their visit,” said Lynn Cameron, Co-Chair of Friends of Shenandoah Mountain & Conservation Chair at SSVC Trail Club. “It is just really important for the local economy.”
The current route for the pipeline would cut through 16 miles of the George Washington National Forest, one of the largest public forests on the East Coast.
Activists believe the ACP would affect wildlife habitat and possibly threaten the clean water supply for the surrounding communities. These factors combine to scare tourism advocates who think the project would make the area a less desirable destination.
Much of the park’s 1,788,900 acres is used for hiking, biking, fishing, hunting, and other recreational uses. Businesses in these communities thrive on tourists who use the land for these activities.
“For Nelson County it would be devastating. [The economy would be largely impacted] because of the Bed & Breakfast, Breweries, Distilleries, Wineries the National Forest, Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Appalachian Trail,” said Reed. “All of these are going to be severed by this pipeline should it be built.”
Ernie Reed of Wild Virginia lives in Nelson County and also has much concern for his neighbors and friends that may lose their property rights due to eminent domain.
“There are 255 property owners in Nelson County that are going to be impacted by this directly and out of those, 78% of them have not given permission to survey across their property,” said Reed. “Dominion has started getting court orders against the property owners so they can be given access by way of the courts.”
However, Dominion Power claims over 75% of the landowners on the proposed route have given permission to survey their land.
A divide between the two forces very much exists.
There were several bills being proposed surrounding the issue, and last week a rally for opponents of the pipeline took place in Richmond.
NBC29 WVIR Charlottesville, VA News, Sports and Weather
One of the bills which raised concerns with the protesters, HB 1475 sponsored by Del. Lee Ware (R-Powhatan), would confirm that all energy pipelines are in the public’s interest, which clearly is not the case.
HB 1475 passed the house with an overwhelming majority last week.
A different bill, SB 1338, which would allow “interstate natural gas companies to enter upon property to make examinations, tests, land auger borings, appraisals, and surveys without the written consent of the owner,” was introduced by Senator Emmet Hanger Jr..
“In this situation, Virginia is toeing the line of what is appropriate and [the power company, Dominion] should prove that the pipeline is in the interest of the community, not just economic gain,” Senator Hanger told NBC 29 on Friday.
Despite hopes for compromise, those opposed to the project see only one outcome – no ACP. The risks and the impacts that it would have on their communities far outweigh the benefits, such as more jobs, increased property tax revenue, and lower fuel cost that this pipeline would bring.
The project is still in the beginning stages, so many are hopeful that the pipeline will not be built at all, or that Dominion will propose a better route.
“We plan to file our preferred route with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) later this summer,” said Mack of the next steps for Dominion Power. “If the FERC decides that the project is for the public good and approves the project, we would expect approval by summer 2016, begin construction later in 2016, and be in service by late 2018.”
Citizens are hoping that the FERC will see that this is not in the interest of the public, nor the economies and environments of the towns it will run through.
“I’m very hopeful that things are going to change, because the people that I am in touch with and that I organize with, in terms of doing this, none of them are backing down,” said Reed, who hopes elected officials and the people at Dominion Power realize the ACP is a bad idea. “It’s not in the best interest of the citizens, the state, or the country, or the land for this to happen, and they are going to have to come up with something better.”
RVAMag will follow this story as it evolves.