Banners for the event hanging in Buckingham County Middle School gym by Friends of Buckingham, a community group that fought the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, leading to this victory. Katja Timm / VCU Capital News Service / CC BY-NC 2.0
A historic African American community in Virginia has dealt another blow to the embattled Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
<p>A federal court threw out a permit Tuesday that the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines" target="_self">pipeline</a>'s owners needed to build a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/natural-gas" target="_self">natural gas</a> compressor station in Union Hill, a community founded by freed slaves after the Civil War. In doing so, the judges sided with the community and their lawyers, who argued that the compressor would disproportionately harm the health of the mostly African American residents who would live near the station, <a href="https://apnews.com/0bf7f96d018ae292f53ad3618bcbc786" target="_blank">The Associated Press reported</a>.</p><p>"Five years ago, Dominion told us that there was going to be a compressor station in Union Hill and there was nothing we could do about it. That's not fair, and it's not American. This is a win for a group of citizens who were committed to protecting their community and never ever gave up," Chad Oba, a Union Hill resident and president of <a href="https://t.co/nX23VoXeL0?amp=1" target="_blank">Friends of Buckingham</a>, a community group that fought the pipeline, told <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/477199-atlantic-coast-pipeline-loses-permit-battle-with-historically-black" target="_blank">The Hill</a>. "Today we showed that our community, our community's history, and our community's future matters more than a pipeline."</p>
<div id="b475a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="VUHLF21578495851"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1214606423168110592" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We Won! You Won! The Fourth is sooo with us 3-0. Today vacated the Atlantic Coast Pipeline's Buckingham compressor… https://t.co/dvHuNXLf0f</div> — Friends of Buckingham (@Friends of Buckingham)<a href="https://twitter.com/FriendsofBucki1/statuses/1214606423168110592">1578419712.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Dominion Energy, the pipeline's lead developer, argued that the compressor station would have fewer emissions and more air quality monitoring than any other station in the U.S., according to The Associated Press. The State Air Pollution Control Board accepted that argument when it granted the permit.</p><p>The board's Deputy Solicitor General Martine Cicconi said during a hearing in October that the board "absolutely grappled" with environmental justice issues when making the decision, but granted the permit because the station's emissions would be much lower than other compressor stations in Virginia and would meet national air quality standards.</p><p>However, the three judges from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected those arguments, ruling that the state did not consider the "unequal treatment" of people living near the compressor site. They also ruled that the state failed to consider zero-emission alternatives such as electric turbines.</p><p>"The Board rejected the idea of disproportionate impact on the basis that air quality standards were met. But environmental justice is not merely a box to be checked, and the Board's failure to consider the disproportionate impact on those closest to the Compressor Station resulted in a flawed analysis," Judge Stephanie Thacker wrote, according to The Associated Press.</p>
<div id="85df9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6SYGV61578495851"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1214687218272493570" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">“Environmental justice is not merely a box to be checked” said the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in its ruling ag… https://t.co/JKt7SUvynQ</div> — SELC (Environmental Law) (@SELC (Environmental Law))<a href="https://twitter.com/selc_org/statuses/1214687218272493570">1578438975.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p><br/></p><p>The judges' decision marks the eighth time since May 2018 that a permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline has been tossed or suspended, <a href="https://www.southernenvironment.org/news-and-press/news-feed/court-delivers-win-for-union-hill-citizens-over-atlantic-coast-pipeline" target="_blank">according to the Southern Environmental Law Center</a> (SELC), which represented Friends of Buckingham in the case.</p><p>The pipeline is intended to carry fracked natural gas 600 miles from West Virginia to North Carolina, according to The Hill. But it has been beset by legal troubles, and less than 6 percent of it is in the ground, SELC said. Construction has been paused for more than a year. </p><p>In a statement <a href="https://www.nbc29.com/2020/01/08/court-throws-out-permit-needed-atlantic-coast-pipeline/" target="_blank">reported by NBC29</a>, Dominion insisted it could resolve the disagreement with Union Hill and complete the pipeline. </p><p>"In its opinion today, the Court recognized the stringency of the permit, while requiring more explanation and analysis from the state to support its approval. We will immediately begin working with the state to resolve the procedural issues identified by the Court and are confident this can be completed in a timely manner. We expect the project will still deliver significant volumes to customers under our existing timeline, even as we work to resolve this permit," Dominion said. </p><p>However, the pipeline faces other challenges. In December 2018, a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/atlantic-coast-pipeline-permits-trees-2623387334.html" target="_self">Virginia appeals court tossed a permit</a> allowing the pipeline to cross national forest in the state, including part of the Appalachian Trail. Dominion and Duke Energy, another pipeline developer, have appealed the case to the Supreme Court, which will hear arguments in February, SELC said.</p><p>"For the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, it's the same story again and again," SELC Senior Attorney Greg Buppert said in a press release. "Dominion tried to force a pipeline compressor station into a community where it didn't belong, just like it has tried to force the pipeline through a national park, national forests, and steep mountains. But the people of Union Hill never backed down. Today they've won an important victory, not just for themselves, but for every community in Virginia facing the unjust burden of industry and pollution."</p>From Your Site Articles
- How This Energy Company's Deep Influence Is Tainting Atlantic ... ›
- Court Orders Atlantic Coast Pipeline Work Stoppage Over Impact on ... ›
- Supreme Court Rules Atlantic Coast Pipeline Can Cross Appalachian Trail, but the Battle Might Not Be Over - EcoWatch ›
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Dominion Energy's headquarters in Richmond, Virginia. VCU CNS
By Wenonah Hauter
Last week, the fossil fuel industry successfully squashed several local measures it didn't like—thanks to the more than $100 million it shelled out to oppose them.
<p>Initiatives to rein in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/fracking/">fracking</a> failed in Colorado, where the industry spent a whopping <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/11/07/midterm-elections-green-ballot-measures-fossil-fuel/" target="_blank">$40 million</a> (outspending advocates 40-1) and in San Luis Obispo County, where a measure to ban fracking lost in the face of <a href="https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/politics-government/election/article221293020.html" target="_blank">$8 million in industry cash</a> (proponents of the measure spent only $240,000). An Arizona initiative to mandate 50 percent <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/renewable-energy">renewable energy</a> by 2050 failed, thanks to $30 million in energy cash to fight it. And, despite increasingly touting its approval for carbon taxes with modest funding of greenwashing groups like the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/energy-environment/2018/10/09/exxonmobil-gives-million-promote-carbon-tax-and-dividend-plan/?utm_term=.8be132d5b85a" target="_blank">Climate Leadership Council</a>, the industry spent $30 million to oppose a carbon tax initiative in Washington. </p><p>The fossil fuel industry is doing more of the same in many states across the country, including Virginia. A new <a href="https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/insight/dominion-energys-power-grab" target="_blank">Food & Water Watch report</a> out now looks at Dominion Energy's outsized influence in the state—how it buys policy, buys elections and squashes renewable energy to further its profits. </p><p>One of the ways Dominion buys policy in Virginia is through its multi-million dollar political and lobbying operation. Since 1998, the company has built the infrastructure to buy off policy and is the biggest corporate contributor to political campaigns in Virginia—with its political action committee and employees plowing more than $10 million into Virginia campaign coffers. Whether it's meals, cocktails, sporting tickets or other associated spending, it's repeatedly bought access to policy through the state's elected officials. </p><p>Dominion's primary interests have been in pushing policies that ensure they won't be regulated. Between 2017 and 2018, the company increased its lobbying and advertising expenditures 10-fold while pushing to enact a law that would ensure Virginia ratepayers would pay more for polluting fossil energy. It also spent more than $4 million on ads this year promoting its legislative agenda to build out more fossil fuel infrastructure—like the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/atlantic-coast-pipeline">Atlantic Coast Pipeline</a>—and its acquisition of SCANA, a South Carolina utility that brought with it a portfolio of coal- and gas-fired power plants.</p><p>Poisonous coal ash and climate pollution aren't Dominion's only toxic legacy in the state: its lobbying machine worked to obstruct clean energy initiatives as well. The company has successfully thwarted popular and progressive energy measures, ensuring, for example, that utilities (like its subsidiary, Virginia Power) would be gatekeepers for community-based solar projects instead of allowing churches and other community organizations to develop their own. This is a move to keep them stuck in the polluting fossil fuel system from which the company extracts great profits that keep them powerful.</p><p>And this is just in Virginia. Nationally, Dominion dumped at least $59 million into state and federal political advocacy, including campaign contributions, gifts and lobbying since 1998. In the late 1990s, Dominion joined disgraced energy company Enron in a national fight to deregulate utilities so that they could instead implement a market-based scheme to separate electricity distribution from power generation, essentially taking energy out of the realm of "public good" and into the realm of commodity. We know how well that worked out: Enron went bankrupt from the scheme, a development that also saddled Dominion with nearly $100 million in losses. But the damage had been done for ratepayers nationwide, with the Federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 entrenching the deregulation these companies sought—the same legislation that enshrined the "Halliburton Loophole" into federal law exempting frackers from federal drinking water protections. Dominion is also investing in infrastructure to connect its facilities to fracked gas from Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. </p><p>Industry influence can mean the difference between a renewable future or more climate-throttling fossil fuel infrastructure. In Virginia, local advocates are taking the fight to Dominion's doorstep—and their cronies in the statehouse. We're joining with Virginia NAACP, Virginia Interfaith Power and Light, People Demanding Action, Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy, League of United Latin American Citizens—Richmond, and others to pass legislation <a href="http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?191+mbr+HB1635" target="_blank">just introduced</a> by state delegates Sam Rasoul and Elizabeth Guzman to transition the state to 100 percent renewables by 2035.</p><p>We're ready for the fight ahead because we have no choice but to ensure that Dominion, and the industry as a whole, doesn't win. We must begin the transition off of fossil fuels immediately if we want to protect our communities and avert the worst of catastrophic <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/">climate change</a> ahead. </p><p><em>Wenonah Hauter is executive director of <a href="https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/" target="_blank">Food & Water Watch</a> and <a href="https://www.foodandwateraction.org/" target="_blank">Food & Water Action</a>.</em></p>
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Atlantic Coast Pipeline to Sideline 100 Miles of Construction in Virginia and West Virginia
23 May 2018
Energy
NPCA Online / Flickr / CC BY 2.0
Builders of the controversial Atlantic Coast Pipeline told federal authorities they will delay construction along 21 miles in West Virginia and 79 miles in Virginia until the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) issues a revised "incidental take statement," which limits the number of threatened or endangered species that might be accidentally killed or harmed during development activities.
Lead developer Dominion Energy filed documents Tuesday with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in response to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling last week. The court sided with environmental groups and their lawyers that the FWS' initial review was not clear enough in the case of the $6.5 billion pipeline and vacated one of its key permits.
<p>
Environmentalists worry that the 600-mile
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/fracking">fracked</a> gas <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines">pipeline</a> from West Virginia to North Carolina could pose risks for a rare bumblebee, the Roanoke logperch and Indiana and Northern long-eared bats and other threatened or endangered species. It will <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/dominion-pipeline-mountaintop-removal-2381652632.html">also</a> cut through through forests, pristine mountains and involve the blasting, excavation and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/mountaintop-removal" target="_blank">removal of mountaintops</a> along 38 miles of Appalachian ridgelines as part of the construction.
</p><p>
In its letter to FERC, Dominion said construction will be avoided along those 100 miles in West Virginia and Virginia where protected species might be put at risk until the revised incidental take statement is issued.
</p><p>
Dominion did not disclose the specific areas it will avoid "because this information contains the locations of sensitive species which are customarily treated as privileged and confidential," the company stated in a news release quoted by
<a href="https://www.wvnews.com/theet/news/developers-agree-to-avoid-pipeline-construction-along-miles-in-w/article_fc12fca8-0d67-502f-8f32-40c1816eea83.html" target="_blank">The Exponent Telegram</a>.
</p><p>
The
<a href="https://www.southernenvironment.org/" target="_blank">Southern Environmental Law Center</a>—which argued on behalf of the <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a>, <a href="https://defenders.org/" target="_blank">Defenders of Wildlife</a> and <a href="http://www.vawilderness.org/" target="_blank">Virginia Wilderness Committee</a> at the appeals court—believes all pipeline construction cannot continue without a valid permit.
</p><p>
"According to the Federal Regulatory Commission's own certificate, FERC's previous notices issued to Atlantic Coast Pipeline developers to proceed are no longer valid," said senior attorney D.J. Gerken in a
<a href="https://www.southernenvironment.org/news-and-press/news-feed/ferc-weighs-whether-acp-construction-can-continue" target="_blank">statement</a>. "If what FERC is now saying is that developers can proceed to construction without the Fish and Wildlife Service's valid permit, it is undermining its own requirements."
</p><p>
SELC recently sent a
<a href="https://www.southernenvironment.org/uploads/words_docs/Letter_from_SELC_re_Vacatur_of_ACP_Incidental_Take_Statement.pdf" target="_blank">letter</a> to FERC outlining the impact of an invalid permit on pipeline construction and requests it fulfill its obligations to stop further construction until its resolved.
</p><p>
<span></span>However, backers of the pipeline insist that construction will move forward as planned. "We will continue to move forward with construction as scheduled and fully comply as required with all permits and agency requirements. We remain committed to taking all reasonable measures to protect the environment and the species while ensuring progress on a project that is essential to the economic and environmental well-being of the region," Dominion stated.
</p><p>
As The Exponent Telegram noted, Dominion contends that the appellate court's May 15 ruling only impacts construction in areas where at-risk species and their habitats may be present. Furthermore, the company believes the incidental take statement invalidated by the court does not impact the pipeline route or other required permits.
</p><p>
"It simply removes the shield that protects against an otherwise unlawful take, and for that reason, we will avoid any activities in any areas identified by (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) that would be likely to adversely affect any of the listed species," Dominion said in the news release.
</p><p>
FERC will determine the next steps once the Atlantic Coast Pipeline documents are officially entered into the record, commission spokesperson Tamara Young-Allen told The Exponent Telegram.
</p><p>
The Southern Environmental Law Center's requests to halt all construction on the pipeline "are under consideration," Young-Allen said.
</p><p>
In the meantime, Young-Allen noted, all previously issued notices to proceed are in effect, with the exception of the areas with threatened or endangered species habitat that the pipeline builders agreed to avoid.
</p><p>
Nonetheless, grassroots resistance against pipelines is growing. Opponents of the
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/mountain-valley-pipeline">Mountain Valley Pipeline</a> launched the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/mountain-valley-pipeline-protesters-2571084795.html">ninth aerial blockade</a> this week to stop progress of the proposed natural gas pipeline running from northwest West Virginia to southern Virginia.
</p>
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Atlantic Coast Pipeline Opponents Down But Not Out After Conditional Approval
13 December 2017
Popular
WAVY-TV
A Virginia panel of regulators granted a conditional approval for a controversial gas pipeline Tuesday, saying that more information on environmental impact is needed before the project can proceed.
The Virginia State Water Board voted 4-3 to approve water permits for the pipeline in one of the project's last remaining hurdles, but delayed the start of construction until several additional environmental studies are reviewed and approved.
<p style="">The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/atlantic-coast-pipeline">Atlantic Coast Pipeline</a>, backed by state political power player Dominion Energy, has met with heavy local opposition. Advocates <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/environmental-groups-file-suit-against-gas-pipeline-in-federal-court/2017/12/08/9ad72922-dc59-11e7-b1a8-62589434a581_story.html?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.8ceda824830e" target="_blank">filed suit in federal court</a> last week following the water board's decision to green light a similar project, the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/mountain-valley-pipeline">Mountain Valley Pipeline</a>, last week. </p><p style="">As reported by the <a href="http://www.richmond.com/business/local/atlantic-coast-pipeline-files-eminent-domain-cases-against-property-owners/article_398e79ba-1736-5823-a9e5-098f796a2dae.html" target="_blank">Richmond Times-Dispatch</a>:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">The board, which had been grappling with delaying a decision on the project, ultimately approved the certification with an amendment by board member Timothy G. Hayes that prevents it from becoming effective until the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality finishes reviewing and approving a series of plans and mitigation measures.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">Many pipeline opponents contend that those plans, which deal with stormwater and erosion and sediment control, among other areas, are key to deciding whether the project can be built without degrading state waterways. Developers' plans call for the 600-mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline to cut through 11 Virginia counties on its way to North Carolina, not including an extension to Chesapeake.</p><p style="">"While this outcome buys us time, it's still far from the end result for clean water we wanted—a flawed application that didn't include required details outlining how Dominion planned to mitigate water pollution from its unnecessary pipeline shouldn't have even gotten a hearing in the first place," Lee Francis, communications manager for the <a href="http://valcv.org/" target="_blank">Virginia League of Conservation Voters</a>, said in a statement. "It's at least a promising sign that regulators sent Dominion back to the drawing board."</p><p style=""><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p style=""><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/state-panel-weighs-key-approval-for-atlantic-coast-pipeline/2017/12/12/d6a1d4b6-df2e-11e7-b2e9-8c636f076c76_story.html?utm_term=.cb530bb1135a" target="_blank">AP</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-agency-takes-unexpected-step-that-could-delay-gas-pipeline-project/2017/12/12/53895450-deb6-11e7-8679-a9728984779c_story.html?utm_term=.55ac813fa389" target="_blank">Washington Post</a>, <a href="http://wvtf.org/post/atlantic-coast-pipeline-faces-last-hurdle-virginia" target="_blank">WVTF</a>, <a href="http://www.richmond.com/business/local/atlantic-coast-pipeline-files-eminent-domain-cases-against-property-owners/article_398e79ba-1736-5823-a9e5-098f796a2dae.html" target="_blank">RIchmond Times-Dispatch</a>, <a href="http://www.wdbj7.com/content/news/VA-Water-Board-approves-Atlantic-Coast-Pipeline-463718473.html" target="_blank">WDBJ</a></p><p style=""> <em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>
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How This Energy Company's Deep Influence Is Tainting Atlantic Coast Pipeline Approval Process
08 June 2017
Popular
Pipeline in Pennsylvania State Forest. StateImpact PA
By Andy Rowell
There is a growing political scandal in Virginia regarding the ubiquitous influence of the state's largest energy company, Dominion Energy, and it's raising fundamental questions about the integrity of the governor's office and state regulators who will decide the fate of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
Dominion's longstanding exercise of power and influence in Virginia is no secret—the company is the largest corporate donor to state candidates.
<p>But a new <a href="https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3762551/AtlanticCoastPipelineReport.pdf" target="_blank">report</a> by the <a href="http://public-accountability.org/2017/06/the-power-behind-the-pipelines-atlantic-coast-pipeline/" target="_blank">Public Accountability Initiative</a> documents in one place the company's extensive, revolving door relationships with the very regulators charged with issuing permits for this controversial, $5 billion <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/fracking/">fracked-gas</a> project.</p><p>The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is a joint venture of Dominion, Duke Energy and Southern Company, but Dominion is the leading owner and will operate the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines">pipeline</a> if it goes ahead.</p><p>The project, which would source fracked gas from West Virginia, plans to traverse the Allegheny Highlands bordering West Virginia and Virginia, cut a large swath through Virginia to the Hampton Roads area, and branch south into North Carolina.</p><p>The new report details how Dominion's influence penetrates every level of state government, from Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) officials, through General Assembly members on both sides of the aisle, to the governor's mansion.</p><p>These relationships are fundamental to the fate of the pipeline.</p><p>While the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is expected to rubber stamp the pipeline's federal permit, states retain the right under the Clean Water Act to protect their water resources—the project will cross hundreds of water bodies in the state—and deny permits for such projects if they are deemed a threat.</p><p>The Cuomo Administration in New York State has recently <a href="https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2016/04/22/new-york-state-denies-permit-to-constitution-pipeline-halting-construction/" target="_blank">denied</a> <a href="http://buffalonews.com/2017/04/08/dec-denies-necessary-water-quality-permits-gas-pipeline/" target="_blank">two</a> such permits for gas pipelines. In Virginia, Governor McAuliffe's Department of Environmental Quality <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2017/05/31/to-lead-on-climate-virginia-governor-must-stop-pipelines/" target="_blank">has the authority</a> to do the same, but both the governor and the regulators who report to him have shown far greater interest in smoothing Dominion's path through the regulatory system.</p><p>The report sheds light on possible reasons why.</p><p>Gov. McAuliffe, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/mcauliffe-backs-550-mile-natural-gas-pipeline-disappointing-environmentalists/2014/09/02/e1bd59c6-32a5-11e4-a723-fa3895a25d02_story.html?utm_term=.5a4548622ecf" target="_blank">who stood with</a> Dominion CEO Thomas Farrell in 2014 as he unveiled plans for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, has received tens of thousands of dollars in political funding from Dominion. He received $35,000 from Dominion PAC shortly before his election in November 2013, and Dominion Virginia Power gave $50,000 to his inaugural committee shortly afterwards. More recently in 2016, Dominion PAC gave $25,000 to McAuliffe's PAC, Common Good VA, and Dominion CEO Tom Farrell gave $7,500.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"><img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy85OTA0MjUwL29yaWdpbi5wbmciLCJleHBpcmVzX2F0IjoxNjIyMjAxMzk3fQ.jgYYKw3k1o8w-rXbEJ_Dm4sQ1cg_Ep4dq3mLWmuAsTs/img.png?width=980" id="5996c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="079296d1dbfdd74d6455c82f9b6c6dfd" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image"><small placeholder="add caption..." class="image-media media-caption">LittleSis.org</small></p>
<p>The DEQ, the key agency charged with reviewing the pipeline's water quality permit, is mired in conflicting interests linked to Dominion. For example, the DEQ's longstanding director, David K. Paylor, received gifts from Dominion including a trip to the <a href="http://wtvr.com/2016/03/15/head-deq-official-accepted-dominion-gifts-including-paid-trip-to-masters-tourney/" target="_blank">2013 PGA Masters Tournament in Augusta</a>, Georgia, and a $1,200 dinner for Paylor and nine of his associates.</p><p>In 2015, Dominion's philanthropic foundation <a href="https://www.dom.com/library/domcom/pdfs/corporate/our-commitments/community/education/env-grants-2015.pdf?la=en" target="_blank">donated $45,000</a> to the <a href="https://www.allianceforthebay.org/" target="_blank">Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay</a>, an organization whose Virginia chapter is headed by <a href="http://wamu.org/story/16/03/14/has_dominions_political_power_clouded_the_fight_over_coal_ash/" target="_blank">Nissa Dean</a>, who sits on the Virginia DEQ's seven-member Water Control Board, which must sign off on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline's water permit.</p><p>DEQ's Water Permitting Division Director, Melanie Davenport, appears to have previously served as an attorney for Dominion, according to the report. Davenport also sits on the board of the <a href="http://www.vwrrc.vt.edu/">Virginia Water Resources Research Center</a> with Joe Tannery, who is Dominion's energy technology advisor.</p><p>Pamela Faggert, Dominion's chief environmental officer and senior vice president of sustainability, served for nearly eight years as director of the air division of the Virginia DEQ in the late eighties and early nineties. <a href="http://www.vpap.org/donors/25525-pamela-frailey-faggert/?start_year=all&end_year=all+1&recip_type=all" target="_blank">The pipeline</a> also has to receive regulatory approval from the air division. Furthermore, Faggert has donated over $10,000 to Virginia politicians, including supporters of the ACP.</p><p>Given the extensive revolving door between Dominion and DEQ, it is perhaps no surprise that DEQ recently came under fierce criticism over relinquishing partial oversight of water quality permits related to the pipeline to the Army Corps of Engineers' national permitting system.</p><p>As one commentator noted last month, this means that Dominion can use the "corps' <a href="http://www.dailyprogress.com/newsvirginian/news/local/deq-draws-ire-of-pipeline-opponents/article_5e5289e4-41ac-11e7-adfd-f30013a3538d.html" target="_blank">blanket permit</a>, instead of having to get one for each river, stream and wetland the pipelines cross."</p><p><a href="http://www.roanoke.com/business/news/deq-acknowledges-error-clarifies-approach-to-review-of-pipelines/article_2ea11f0c-1fac-5531-aaae-ba6d7f0b2e0c.html" target="_blank">Greg Buppert</a>, senior attorney for the <a href="https://www.southernenvironment.org/" target="_blank">Southern Environmental Law Center's</a> Virginia office, has expressed concerns: "That process does not involve site-specific analyses and we have no confidence that the corps' permit will be sufficient for such a complex project across the state's steepest mountains."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed"></p><div id="c71df" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="K0347Q1496945125"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="858274810983579648" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Atlantic Coast Pipeline Would Require Extensive Mountaintop Removal https://t.co/TyQjmptiei @GreenpeaceUK @globalactplan</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/858274810983579648">1493463635.0</a></blockquote></div><p></p><p>Dominion is also used to getting its way with state legislators in Virginia. State politicians in Virginia and North Carolina "who have been publicly vocal about their support for the pipeline have been some of the biggest recipients of donations from its corporate backers," argued the report.<br></p><p>General Assembly leaders alone have received nearly $400,000 since 2007 from the company. Some of this money is redistributed by the leadership to less powerful elected officials, ensuring compliance with Dominion's agenda down the chain of command.</p><p><a href="http://www.nbc29.com/story/35069863/virginia-lawmakers-send-letter-to-ferc-supporting-atlantic-coast-pipeline" target="_blank">Five leading state representatives</a> from Virginia, along with eleven elected officials from West Virginia and North Carolina who co-signed a letter to FERC declaring their support for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, "rank among the highest recipients of donations from Dominion over the past decade."</p><p>Ultimately, when it comes to state authority over pipeline permits, the buck stops with the state's chief executive—currently McAuliffe—to ensure a fair and thorough review process that's free of polluter influence.</p><p><a href="http://chesapeakeclimate.org/press-releases/mcauliffe-climate-hypocrisy/" target="_blank">McAuliffe was recently labelled</a> a climate hypocrite after announcing he was moving forward on the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a> principles, but at the same time being a vociferous supporter of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/offshore-oil-drilling">offshore drilling</a> and fracked gas pipelines in Virginia.</p><p>As Oil Change International's <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2017/02/15/atlantic-coast-pipeline-greenhouse-gas-emissions-briefing/" target="_blank">own analysis has shown</a>, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline alone would cause as much greenhouse gas pollution per year as 20 coal-fired power plants.</p><p>Chesapeake Climate Action Network director Mike Tidwell, argues: "It is, frankly, hypocrisy for the governor to support both Paris and violent drilling for oil and gas in and across the state. The best thing Gov. McAuliffe could do to support Paris and oppose Trump is to drop his tragic support for offshore oil drilling and for the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/mountain-valley-pipeline">Mountain Valley</a> and Atlantic Coast Pipelines for fracked gas."</p><p>If you look up the word "Dominion" in the dictionary you will see the word derives from the Medieval Latin word "dominium" or "dominus" which means "lord or master." And true to its name, Dominion Energy certainly seems to be master of Virginia, no matter the cost to communities and the environment.</p>
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