Overblown: Report slams economic claims of Atlantic Coast Pipeline
The claimed economic benefits of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) are overstated, lack sufficient supporting data, and fail to account for environmental and societal costs, according to a new analysis by Synapse Energy Economics commissioned by the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC).
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Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Credit: Dominion |
The report reviewed two economic benefit reports that have been released by ACP principal shareholder Dominion Resources: "The Economic Impact of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina" by Chmura Economics and released in September 2014; and the "Economic Impacts of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline" prepared by ICF International and released in February 2015.
The Synapse report criticizes the credibility of the economic claims included in the Chmura and ICF reports released by Dominion Resources, stating "Both the ICF report and Chmura report… lack the transparency and verifiable data necessary for independent review" and "do not provide the useful, objective tools necessary to inform a public decision-making process meant to ensure the public good."
Of the ICF report, the Synapse review says, "The conclusion that all energy savings to businesses from the ACP will be used to create new jobs is not supported by evidence." Further, "based on the flaws that were identifiable in the report, it is likely that the results overestimate the benefits of the pipeline."
Although the Chmura study provides detailed tax revenue benefits for three states, Synapse contends that it "fails to provide any underlying data or assumptions for these tax revenue calculations."
The review by Synapse also highlights several societal and environmental costs of the ACP that are not addressed by either the ICF or Chmura reports.
"Very large, high pressure natural gas transmission pipelines like the one proposed by Dominion pose substantial public safety risks to nearby residents," the Synapse report said. "Despite the passage of the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act in 2002, there have been more than 3,000 significant accidents, causing more than 150 fatalities, hundreds of injuries, and billions of dollars in property damage, including four major incidents in North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia in the last few years."
Further, the report said, "The ACP project could have detrimental effects on property values in communities where the pipeline will be located… reduced property values would lead to lower assessed real estate values and, therefore, lower tax revenues."
The report goes on to say that pipeline construction "could lead to water quality impacts, may damage productive farmland and forest land, can have detrimental impacts on wildlife through habitat loss and fragmentation, and could affect the natural beauty and recreational value of areas like the Blue Ridge Mountains, Monongahela National Forest, and the George Washington National Forest."
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is a joint venture among four major U.S. energy companies to build and own a pipeline to deliver natural gas supplies to growing markets for additional customers in Virginia and North Carolina, as well as provide a new route for direct access to the burgeoning production in the Marcellus and Utica shale basins of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio. In addition to Dominion, the venture is comprised of Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, and AGL Resources.
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