WHO WILL PROTECT US?
DOMINION’S ATLANTIC COAST PIPELINE MUST BE STOPPED.
INTRODUCTION The title of this booklet, “Who Will Protect Us?” is meant to provoke reflection on the state’s tendency to side with industry, while sacrificing our wellbeing. Pipelines affect all of us. We are hoping that state agencies with the ability to stop the ACP will act accordingly, but we are also prepared for what is often true— we, the people, protect us, and we will stop these pipelines. This is a book of information about the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) created in November 2017. For updates, more information about the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), and about the impacts of both pipelines in WVA/NC visit these helpful sites: + friendsofnelson.com + VPAP.org search for politicians and Dominion + priceofoil.org + earthworksaction.org
VOCAB
THE ATLANTIC COAST PIPELINE IS ONE OF TWO PROPOSED PIPELINES IN VA. IT IS (WOULD BE)…
600 miles long crossing WVA, VA, & NC 42 inches wide more than $5 billion
FERC: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission SWBC: State Water Control Board DEQ: Department of Environmental Quality ACP: Atlantic Coast Pipeline
CONTENTS WHO WANTS TO BUILD THE ACP 3+4 PEOPLE. 5+6 WATER. 7 FRACKING. 8
built by a consortium of three companies: Dominion + Piedmont + Southern
$2 billion cost to Dominion consumers carrying fracked gas
WHO WANTS TO BUILD THE ACP? Dominion Power is Virginia’s energy monopoly. The corporation not only controls extraction and distribution of natural resources, it also uses its massive wealth to influence political and cultural institutions. Think of Dominion like an Octopus. The powerful tentacles of the company go largely unchecked, allowing them to complete harmful projects and reap massive profit. They strangle opposition. They grasp power. If they don’t get what they want, they can retaliate.
Dominion still needs water permits for the ACP. The State Water Control Board (SWCB) is made up of 7 “citizens” appointed by the Governor. It approves regulations for the DEQ to administer. By requirement they cannot have received a “significant portion” of their income directly or indirectly from certificate or permit applicant (Dominion) during the past 2 years. So they got us… right? Wrong. Roberta Kellam, SWCB & Board Member of the VA Institute for Marine Science In 2016, Dominion donated $30,000 to VIMS. Nissa Dean, SWCB & Director of the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay (ACB), of which Dominion is listed as a partner. In 2015, Dominion gave ACB $45,000 and in 2016, Dominion gave ACB $35,000. Melanie Davenport, Head of DEQ Water Division and former lawyer for Dominion.
In theory, our government provides the adequate checks to prevent corporations from exploiting people and land. In practice, politicians and regulatory agencies are heavily influenced by corporations through lobbying, donations, personal relationships, and bribery. Take David Paylor, Director of the VA Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ), for example: In 2013, Dominion paid for Paylor’s trip to the Masters Golf Tournament. The DEQ liberally grants Dominion permits for projects, including the dumping of dangerous coal ash waste water in 2016.
. . .But why does the Governor allow these relationships to exist? Gov. McAuliffe loves Dominion. And the Governor elect, Northam, is no better.
McAuliffe at ACP project announcement, 2014
PEOPLE. Climate Change “Natural” gas is marketed as a cleaner alternative to coal, but really its extraction and burning continues our dependence on fossil fuels. Gas pipelines leak methane, an extremely potent greenhouse gas, and erode any climate benefits compared to coal. The ACP would be responsible for nearly 68 million metric tonnes of climate pollution annually, equivalent to 20 coal plants. “Climate colonialism describes the ongoing failure of global leadership to address the displacement, death, and destruction occurring most heavily in developing countries, and in poor areas of the Global North.” This includes stopping pipelines. Compressor Stations Energy companies target communities that are rural, low-income, and predominately people of color to exploit, pollute, and extract from. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline will run through Buckingham Co. (aka The Heart of Virginia), specifically the neighborhood of Union Hill— home to people who are older, rural, and Black descendants of freedmen.
It also where Dominion has chosen to place a compressor station. Compressor stations are the most dangerous parts of pipelines. They are noisy 24/7, especially polluting, & susceptible to explosions and fires. Compressor stations, analogous to hearts in living creatures, regulate the pressure and amount of gas pumping through the pipes.
History Initial reports by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) completely ignored the cultural and historical resources of Union Hill. Residents took it upon themselves to ensure that their history was not erased and spent many months collecting data and filing a report to FERC. Jobs The ACP is predicted to create 2,873 jobs during construction but on 39 permanently. Temporary jobs are often filled by workers from out of town who do not contribute to the long-term local economy. Temporary housing is often built to house workers. These “Man Camps” have high rates of sexual assault, violence, and alcohol/drug abuse. Indigenous Peoples "The proposed ACP would disproportionately affect American Indians due to its chosen path through NC. The path would travel through land inhabited by Meherrin, Haliwa-Saponi, Coharie, Lumbee, and other Indian tribes. The number of American Indians living along the path of the proposed pipeline is equal to 25% of the population in NC ... This is significant because American Indians make up 3.8% of the population of counties along the proposed route, while only constituting 1.2% of the entire state population (Richardson, 2017)." -- Effects of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline on the Lumbee Tribe in Robeson County, NC. UNC Chapel Hill, 2017
In October 2015, evidence that the Cow Knob Salamander was threatened by construction of the ACP forced a change in route and a year delay. In October 2017, regardless of mounting evidence against the ACP due to its extremely harmful impacts to people, and historically and culturally significant areas, FERC approved the project. Who will protect us?
WATER.
FRACKING.
Virginia law is weak on enforcement for water quality violations. The maximum fine for a violation is $1,000, and Dominion is not required to stop work until violations are corrected. If Dominion committed 1,000 violations, the resulting maximum fines would still be less than 0.02% of the over $5 billion project cost, and Dominion would continue to work and violate.
Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, is a method of extracting oil and gas that involves injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rocks, boreholes, etc., so as to force open existing fissures and extract oil or gas. Fracking fluids consist of a mixture of water, sand, & toxic chemicals.
This is not an incentive for safety. It is an incentive to violate our water quality standards. Dominion could actually save money by not installing the required controls. Causes of Contamination + improperly constructed or failing pipes and wells that allow gas to leak into groundwater; + improper management or deliberate improper disposal of wastewater (Dominion has done this before with coal ash!); + some studies have shown that more than 90% of fracking fluids may remain underground and can easily enter groundwater supplies; + karst terrain along the route in Highland, Bath, and Augusta Counties, VA are particularly vulnerable to groundwater pollution due to porous limestone bedrock. “Dominion was required to report all wells and springs in proximity to the pipeline to FERC, but they have undercounted these features, in my estimation by at least 90%. Dominion listed only 3 springs in all of Bath County, no springs in the entire 150 mile + route through NC, and no springs in a number of VA Counties.”- resident of Bath Co.
Much oil and gas production occurs in West Virginia from the Marcellus Shale, an underground reserve of oil and gas that expands from Ohio to New York State. According to the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy, there are over 466 oil and gas wells that were drilled between 2007 and 2017. The gas transported in the ACP will be fracked from the Marcellus Shale in Harrison Co., West VA. The Oil and Gas division in the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy is responsible for the regulating fracking, however, the law does not address matters that pertain to people’s land or neighborhood. The law is very much in favor of the oil and gas companies. The potential for contamination of groundwater, soil, air, and human health is high. Hydraulic fracturing and disposal of fracking fluids in deep underground wastewater injection wells have been linked to an increase in earthquakes in formerly quiet places. Oklahoma has seen a 160-fold spike in quakes, and in 2014 the state’s earthquake rate surpassed California’s. The rise in quakes coincides with an increase in drilling.
WHO ARE WE? We are youth and students, members of our community, artists, visionaries and activists. We are choosing to respond to the worsening climate crisis with unwavering hope and an unchallengeable, fierce determination. The future that this industry seeks to liquidate into short-sighted returns, is our future, and we are claiming our agency over it. No profit-hungry corporation or corrupt politician will take that away from us. We will win because we have to. We see a Virginia where our people do not need to choose between jobs or justice. A Virginia that is liberated from the clutch of extractive industries. One where the economy works for the benefit of the working people and not pocketbooks of a select few. One that is driven by a collective ethic and not the blind pursuit of power and profit. We exist across the state within different organizations and affinity groups. The Virginia Student Environmental Coalition is a statewide network of students and young people fighting to end extraction in this state. vsecoalition@gmail.com or facebook.com/
WHAT’S NEXT? In Virginia, the State Water Control Board will hold two permitting meetings in December to make final decisions on important water permits. We need your help. This booklet hopes to inspire movement and equip you with the tools to join us. Please share this information, recruit YOUR PEOPLE to the SWCB meetings, and bring the cover of this booklet to show support and unity.
STATE WATER CONTROL BOARD MEETINGS DECEMBER 11 + 12TH, 2017, TRINITY FAMILY LIFE CENTER 
 3601 Dill Rd, Richmond, VA 23222, 9:30AM both days. FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO JOIN A RIDE SHARE, EMAIL:
SWCB.RESPONSE@GMAIL.COM