The communication professionals working for Dominion are campaigning to convince everyone that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline is a done deal – despite the fact that challenges are mounting and the project has received none of the required state and federal approvals. An article just published in Southeast Energy News highlights some of the legal and permitting issues and describes how Virginia’s proposed mega pipelines are becoming flashpoints in Virginia’s Governor’s race.

See:  Virginia Pipeline Opponents Escalate as Governor’s Race Heats Up, May 3, 2017

IN OTHER NEWS

DPMC has filed yet another Freedom of Information Act Request with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, asking for critical records related to the ACP, including:

• Erosion and Sediment Control Plans, including narrative descriptions and schematic depictions or alignment sheets, for the pipeline corridor and other pipeline-related construction activities, including access roads, other workspace and staging areas.
• Stormwater Management Plans, including narrative descriptions, schematic depictions or alignment sheets and computational spreadsheets, for the pipeline corridor and other pipeline-related construction activities.
• Descriptive material related to ACP’s “Best in Class” program and other slope-stabilization plans, including narrative descriptions and site-specific designs, depictions and alignment sheets.

See:  DPMC FOIA Request, May 3, 2017

Although the Virginia DEQ has announced that it will conduct project-specific 401 Water Quality Certification reviews for both the ACP and the MVP, we have not seen complete applications or the detailed plans that we are again requesting. Moreover, in correspondence with the DEQ, Dominion contends that Stormwater Management Plans (required of all other significant earth-disturbing projects in Virginia) should not be required because the project will not alter the runoff characteristics of the steep mountainsides and ridgelines it intends to excavate.