Is the Atlantic Coast Pipeline really necessary? ABRA doesn't think so
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a natural gas pipeline that is proposed to run from the Marcellus shale gas fields in West Virginia to North Carolina, is under fire by a coalition of 35 conservation and environmental groups in Virginia and West Virginia. The pipeline will run from Harrison County, West Virginia southeast through Virginia with an extension to Chesapeake, Virginia, then south through central North Carolina to Robeson County.
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Proposed pipeline route. Credit: Dominion Resources |
According to the coalition, the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance (ABRA), the routes "are not in the best interest of the public good of the affected communities and citizens of Virginia and West Virginia."
Specifically, the ABRA claims the proposed routes would threaten the integrity and safety of the water supplies of the immediately affected communities and many other communities that are dependent upon water originating in the Allegheny-Blue Ridge region, as well as present serious safety risks because of the instability of the karst topography over which the routes would traverse.
The proposed route, according to ABRA, would also compromise the intended uses of public lands, particularly the Monongahela and George Washington National Forests, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.
The groups are also concerned about endangering the structural character and increasing the possibility of long-term erosion in the steep mountain terrain through which the routes would pass, as well as harming the habitat of many protected species of plants and animals that are unique to the Allegheny-Blue Ridge region. Among their other concerns are that the ACP would degrade the usefulness of affected agriculture and forest resources; lower the value of private property of land owners along the routes; diminish the cultural and recreational attractiveness of the affected communities and the region as a whole; and overall negatively impact the economies and livelihoods of the people and communities affected by the proposed routes.
The coalition -- which includes Allegheny Highlands Alliance, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Conservation Partners, Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition, Sierra Club, Southern Environmental Law Center, Waterkeepers Chesapeake, and West Virginia Environmental Council -- is calling upon the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to conduct a programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) that assesses the full range of adverse effects of the pipeline and evaluates all reasonable, less damaging alternatives. The PEIS, according to the coalition, should examine the need for and impacts of the pipeline in the context of the numerous natural gas infrastructure projects proposed for the region and the rapidly increasing competitiveness of clean, renewable sources of energy.
They are also urging FERC to investigate the demand for more natural gas in the markets that the ACP would reportedly serve and the need for a new pipeline to meet that demand, given that "recent credible studies have concluded that the existing pipeline infrastructure may be adequate."
Further, they are asking that FERC evaluate the expected life of the Marcellus shale field since recent analyses have predicted that production from the field will soon begin to decline.
FERC has regulatory authority over the construction and operation of interstate natural gas pipelines to carry out these requests.
Those with a financial interest in the ACP are Dominion with a 45 percent stake, Duke Energy with 40 percent, Piedmont with 10 percent, and AGL Resources with 5 percent.
The pipeline's main customers will initially be six utilities and related companies that collectively will purchase under 20-year contracts a majority of the pipeline's capacity, including Duke Energy Carolinas, Duke Energy Progress, Virginia Power Services Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, Virginia Natural Gas, and PSNC Energy.
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