The controversial Atlantic Coast Pipeline faces its final regulatory hurdle in Virginia: permits to be voted on by the state water control board. The two day board meeting began Monday morning with a pump-up for anti pipeline activists.
Two days of hearings on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline kick off this morning. I'll be here both days. pic.twitter.com/gKSsUoJexv
— Mallory Noe-Payne (@MalloryNoePayne) December 11, 2017
“I believe that we will win!” chanted the crowd.
Public comment began at 10 am and lasted beyond 5 pm. Plenty were there to speak in favor of the natural gas pipeline. One was Delegate Roxann Robinson of Chesterfield County. The pipeline won’t go through her district, but she thinks it will be an important part of Virginia’s energy future.
“And we need to be able to transport the natural gas across the Commonwealth and to North Carolina and to the coastline,” said Robinson.
Many others though say the state isn’t doing enough to protect Virginia’s waters. Regulators won’t be analyzing each stream crossing in the pipeline’s path, instead relying on a blanket permit from the Army Corps of Engineers.
Jennifer Lewis, president of the anti-pipeline group Friends of Augusta, says that’s just not enough.
“It’s inaccurate and it’s not safe,” Lewis said. “I want them to go to each stream crossing and do an analysis on each stream, each body of water, each wetland.”
Last week the board opted not to require that level of analysis for the Mountain Valley Pipeline.Opponents though are still holding out hope they will require it for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The board received more 15,000 comments on the project.
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline will run more than 600 miles and through 11 Virginia counties, supplying natural gas from West Virginia to southeast Virginia and North Carolina.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
