BLUE RIDGE ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE LEAGUE
PO Box 88 ~ Glendale Springs, North Carolina 28629 ~ Phone (336) 982-2691 ~ Fax (336) 982-2954 ~ Email: BREDL@skybest.com
8260 Thomas Nelson Hwy ~ Lovingston, VA ~ Phone (434) 420-1874 ~ Email: ponton913@msn.com

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Sharon Ponton, (434) 420-1874
Lou Zeller, (336) 977-0852
Kathie Mosley, (434) 953-7031

BREDL and its Buckingham Chapter, Concern for the New Generation, File Supreme Court Appeal regarding Special Use Permit for the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline

Lovingston, VA—This week the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) and its chapter, Concern for the New Generation (CNG), and its members filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of Virginia regarding Buckingham County’s approval of a special use permit for a compressor station for the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The suit was originally filed February 6, 2017 pro se. Circuit Court Judge William Alexander dismissed the case in January, 2018 on technicalities regarding the form used in the pro se filing.

BREDL’s Stop the Pipeline Campaign Coordinator, Sharon Ponton, stated, “We believe this case deserves to be heard on its merits. We contend that the special exception in the zoning ordinance which was used in the permitting process is for utilities…water, sewer, or even a natural gas utility company which delivers a product to residents of the community. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline is not a utility. It is a natural gas transmission company.”

Kathie Mosley, chair of CNG, stated, “The Union Hill community has been ignored and marginalized throughout the approval process for the proposed pipeline and its compressor station. The County ignored the evidence we presented at the hearings and approved the permit anyway. Our plan to stop the compressor station from being constructed in our historically significant African-American community moves forward with this appeal.”

“Judge Alexander remarked during the hearing, he believed the case should be appealed, and that’s what we have done,” stated Lou Zeller, Executive Director of BREDL. Zeller continued, “The County has done everything it could to slow walk this process, but we are persistent in our support of the Union Hill community, and look forward to a positive outcome from the Supreme Court of Virginia.”

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View the Appeal to Virginia Supreme Court