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See links below graphic for more info!
Links to both events |
Safeguard America's Resources News Items
Chronological listing of Safeguard America's Resources posts
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2022
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Jul. 26, 2022: In our comments submitted to FERC, BREDL: (1) Requests that FERC deny request from Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC (MVP, LLC)
for an extension of time until October 13, 2026 to complete construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP)
(2) In the event that MVP, LLC is granted an extension of time to complete construction of the MVP, BREDL requests that |
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Jun. 21, 2022: FERC's claim that Green Hollow Drive (incorrectly called "Green Hollow Road" in the Order) is not a contributing resource in the Bent Mountain Orchard Rural Historic District contradicts the findings of The Evaluation Committee of the Virginia Department of Historic Resources |
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2021
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Sep. 07, 2021: In our letter, we point out that landowners whom were able to obtain legal counsel were able to negotiate better terms. We request the Attorney General right the injustices and assist landowners in regaining these easements. |
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Jun. 11, 2021: BREDL reviewed Social Vulnerability Index data compiled by CDC for Florence County, SC which indicate that there already are moderate to high levels of social vulnerability in the census tracts in the Pamplico area of Florence County. |
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Mar. 15, 2021: Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League has requested the Attorneys General of North Carolina and Virginia intervene on behalf of landowners who were forced to bow to "bullying and predatory" tactics used to gain easements for the now cancelled Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP). |
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2020
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Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League staff and chapter members talk about the Atlantic Coast Pipeline fight. The Dominion Energy and Duke Energy ACP was approved in 2014. Had it been constructed, it would have traversed 550 miles from West Virginia through Virginia to North Carolina. The pipeline companies cancelled the project on July 5, 2020. |
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Nov. 09, 2020: Mountain Valley Pipeline is seeking approval to plow a 42-inch natural gas climate wrecking pipeline through 3.5 miles of our life-sustaining national forest. The Jefferson National Forest Plan would need to be amended to allow this intrusion. Just because FERC rubberstamps projects does not mean that the Forest Service has to go along with the destruction. |
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Sep. 10, 2020: Not all pipeline projects are the same. Not all pipeline companies are the same. FERC should properly examine this case and not simply grant this extension. The Mountain Valley Pipeline project is far from being completed. In Virginia, according to MVP reports filed with FERC, MVP has completed about 80% clearing; 84% right-of-way preparation; 65% trenching, welding, coating and wrapping; 70% stringing; 54% backfilling and tying-in; and 15% final restoration. FERC has a great opportunity here - the opportunity to right a wrong. Commissioners can prevent further harm to the communities along the MVP route by denying this request for an extension. |
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Aug. 18, 2020: The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, its chapters and allies presented a Unity Banner to water protectors and pipeline fighters at the Bent Mountain Community Center, Bent Mountain, VA. The Unity Banner was created to symbolize solidarity between those who successfully fought and stopped the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) and those who are still fighting the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). |
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Aug. 06, 2020: We have grave concerns that adding thousands of workers - many coming from states currently designated as "hot spots" for COVID-19 - will not only significantly increase the number of cases in these counties but will also put an undue burden on our local healthcare system. |
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Jul. 21, 2020: Landowners on the proposed route of a new natural gas pipeline in Florence County South Carolina have requested a public hearing. Adopting the name Pamplico Pipeline Defense Committee, the group seeks to protect residents living in the path of a 14.5 mile, 16-inch gas line proposed by Dominion Energy South Carolina. |
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Jul. 05, 2020: Duke and Dominion's press release: Dominion Energy (NYSE: D) and Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) today announced the cancellation of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline ("ACP") due to ongoing delays and increasing cost uncertainty which threaten the economic viability of the project. - - - Therese Vick, BREDL's community organizer and campaign director, Raleigh, NC: "As our founder Janet Marsh said: 'We just have to last one day longer than they do!'" Kathie Mosley, BREDL VP and Concern for the New Generation, Union Hill, VA: "Dominion chose to ignore the Union Hill community, but we stood up never stopped fighting. They tried to divide our community, but we never ever gave in. It feels good today to know we slayed the giant." |
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Jul. 02, 2020: ACP/Dominion's failure to complete its due diligence - listening to communities, to experts, to the agencies from whom it needed permits - is the reason it has been forced into the position of seeking an extension of two (2) years for the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity. |
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Apr. 07, 2020: Landowners on the route of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline are fighting to prevent the company's financial appraisers from entering their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. In a letter to Nash County delivered Friday, residents formally requested that the Board of Commissioners reject the pipeline, citing reductions in safety measures and harassment of landowners. |
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Mar. 28, 2020: What this indicates is that the principal oversight agency responsible for safe operation of pipelines counters the loss of work hours by reducing training and enforcement. This is a flagrant disregard of public safety sanctioned by a callous exploitation of the genuine public health threat presented by COVID-19. It is unacceptable; it demonstrates additional reasons to oppose pipelines through our communities. |
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Feb. 14, 2020: We sincerely appreciate the efforts of the VADEQ to protect the aquifers in the EVGWMA from over-use and the loss of their fresh water storage capacity caused by sinking land. We must, therefore, question the reasoning now being used to issue a permit special exception which would allow Chickahominy Power to withdraw up to 30,000,000 gallons of water from these fragile aquifers wiping out much of the progress made in past years. |
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Feb. 13, 2020: BREDL requests that you deny the special exception to the Groundwater Management Act requested by Chickahominy Power, LLC. The exception, if granted, would be contrary to the letter and purpose of the state's Ground Water Management Act of 1992. Further, the Chickahominy Power plant itself serves no practical purpose because, like other natural gas fired electric plants, it uses as much energy as it produces. |
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Feb. 05, 2020: BREDL has requested NC Attorney General Josh Stein intervene on the side of Petitioners as friend-of-the-court in the Cowpasture River Preservation Association et al. vs Forest Service case before the U.S. Supreme Court. We ask Attorney General Stein to act to protect North Carolina communities in the same way Attorney General Mark Herring has done to protect Virginia communities. |
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2019
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Nov. 27, 2019: Any and all payments received from the Mountain Valley Pipeline for their failures to meet soil erosion and sediment regulations must be placed in a fund dedicated to the landowners and communities who have had to endure the devastation from the construction of this ill-permitted and regulated pipeline. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VADEQ) should not have access to these monies to fund any of their programs. VADEQ's lack of concern for these communities and landowners has been clear from the beginning of the permitting process. VADEQ ignored the valid concerns of the communities and discounted expert witness testimony when permitting construction. Those ignored and discounted concerns have been proven to be true repeatedly. |
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See links below graphic for more info!
Links to both events |
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Sept. 16, 2019: Excerpts from our comments: |
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Raleigh- In a July 24th ruling, US District Judge Terrence Boyle extended a stay on
Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s (ACP) request to use “quick-take” proceedings in order to gain access
to properties along the route of the pipeline. “Quick take” allows the company to gain access to
land even though adjudication of compensation has not occurred.
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June 26, 2019: FERC’s mission is to assist consumers to obtain economical, safe, reliable, and secure energy services at a reasonable cost. But artificially high incentives in pipeline development are causing excessive pipeline
construction and needless community devastation.
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May 31, 2019: BREDL comments that there is a failure to designate all applicable national register criteria. The Draft National Register of Historic Places Nomination for the Coles-Terry Rural Historic District (“Nomination”) designates that the CTRHD is qualified for National Register listing under Criterion A as a property “associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history”. On page 14, the Nomination
designates “agriculture” as the area of significance in which the District is eligible under Criterion A. There are no other National Register criteria listed besides Criterion A, and no other areas of significance listed besides “Agriculture”. The Nomination's treatment of the National Register criteria applicable to the CTRHD should also include Criteria C and D.
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View Photos from November 27, 2018 in Cumberland County, NC.
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View Photos from the March 27-28 Vigil.
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Mar. 27, 2019: Richmond, VA—Today in a peaceful, spiritual event, allied groups led by the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and Virginia Pipeline Resisters came together from across the Commonwealth to begin a 24-hour Vigil for Justice held outside the Governor’s Office. The action began with a Unity Rally with speakers who live along the routes of both the proposed Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines.
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Feb. 11, 2019: Documents obtained through the North Carolina Public Records Act by Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) show that the Cooper administration is collaborating with the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) in their surveillance of opponents statewide and in communities impacted by the pipeline. The records came from the Department of Public Safety (DPS).
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Feb. 4, 2019: BREDL calls upon the NC Utilities Commission to reject the Integrated Resource Plan submitted by Dominion Energy North Carolina and require a cleaner, smarter plan. And we support similar calls directed towards Duke Energy’s plan.
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Jan. 16, 2019: The letter reads, "I would like an explanation why a date for the hearing to begin the process regarding revocation of the 401 water certification for the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline has not been set.
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Jan. 8, 2019: Richmond, VA—The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) lambasted the citizen State Air Pollution Control Board (SAPCB) today for its approval of the air permit for the Buckingham compressor station for the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Kathie Mosley, BREDL Vice President and chair of Union Hill’s Chapter, Concern for the New Generation, called the decision “a travesty.” Mosley shared, “Those of us who live in Union Hill have been ignored through the entire permitting process. We had hoped the Air Board would acknowledge the fact that we are an Environmental Justice community. This won’t stop us from fighting. We will consider challenging the decision in court.”
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Jan. 3, 2019: Lovingston, VA—The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) today called out the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for its attempts to erase the lives and history of the Union Hill community while misleading the State Air Pollution Control Board (SAPCB) regarding the proposed compressor station site for Dominion Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
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2018
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Dec. 20, 2018: Today, an attorney for the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League sent a request to Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring urging that he “move the court for injunctive relief” regarding work on the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
The request states, “MVP is clearing land and burying pipe even though it is not possible to grow grass this time of year. The company consistently acts in callous disregard of the law even in the face of a lawsuit for the violations. The construction must stop while the action for violating the law is litigated.”
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Dec. 14, 2018: A letter has been sent on behalf of BREDL by the Brice Law Firm to the office of Governor Roy Cooper in the nearly year-long effort to receive public records regarding the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. BREDL’s request to Governor Cooper is requesting information regarding the Memorandum of Understanding between ACP and Governor Cooper.
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Statewide Radio Ad Campaign Launched Dec. 14, 2018: Today the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League announced a statewide radio ad campaign targeting Governor Ralph Northam’s interference in the air permitting decision on the proposed natural gas compressor station slated for Buckingham County.
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Dec. 13, 2018: The Virginia State Water Control Board voted to hold a public hearing to consider revoking the 401 certification for the Mountain Valley Pipeline. At the SWCB meeting, over twenty citizens spoke in favor of revoking the 401 certification. The date for the public hearing has not been announced.
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Nov. 30, 2018: Lovingston, VA—Today, on behalf of its members and chapters in Virginia, the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) called upon Virginia Inspector General Michael Westfall to investigate the firing of two State Air Pollution Control Board members by Governor Ralph Northam. The request also cites threats by the state attorney general to disband the Governor’s Advisory Council on Environmental Justice. The request centers on a proposed natural gas pipeline compressor station air permit.
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Nov. 26, 2018: BREDL sends memo to Tetra Tech and Mountain Valley Pipeline requesting: (a) maintenance of the culvert underneath Green Hollow Drive, a contributing resource inside the National Register of Historic Places-eligible Bent Mountain Orchard Rural Historic District, and (b) avoidance of use of Green Hollow Drive as a pipeline access road.
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Sept. 11, 2018: If permitted, the Buckingham Compressor Station would be a major source of air pollution. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has incorrectly determined that it would be a minor source. We recommend immediate steps be taken to correct this error. Further, unless and until the Virginia Supreme Court rules, and local governing bodies in Buckingham County to do a proper assessment of the disproportionate impacts on economically disadvantaged or minority communities in and around Union Hill, any air permit issued by Virginia DEQ would lack the necessary legal basis.
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Sept. 10, 2018: Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League has submitted comments on the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline-Southgate Project. Initial public scoping comments were due to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission today.
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Aug. 29, 2018: The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) and its five co-plaintiffs, including the Tribal Historic Preservation Officers (THPOs) of the Rosebud Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes of South Dakota, filed a reply on Monday, August 27 to the opposition of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) to our emergency motion for stay submitted to the D.C. Circuit Court earlier in August. The emergency stay would halt construction on the MVP until the requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (Section 106) have been met with regard to consultation with Indian tribes.
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Aug. 17, 2018: The Petitioners cite FERC's refusal to allow the request of the Tribal Preservation Officers for consultation under Section 101(d)(6)(B) of the National
Historic Preservation Act regarding the Mountain Valley Pipeline project. The Preservation Petitioners hereby join the petitioners Appalachian
Mountain Voices et al., in these consolidated cases in seeking an emergency stay
to prevent irreparable injury to their members and interests pending this Court's
review of the petitions. An emergency stay is warranted as a result of the
Commission's actions of August 10, 2018 and August 15, 2018, modifying its
previously-issued "stop work order" to allow MVP to undertake "stabilization"
measures along certain areas along the pipeline route, and then allowing MVP to
resume and complete pipeline construction along a portion of the right of way.
These activities will irreparably harm historic and cultural resources, including a
potential site of traditional and religious significance to the Siouan people, which
will be adversely affected by these activities.
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Aug. 13, 2018: I write to express concerns and share information regarding the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline
(ACP). The ACP potentially impacts 8 Eastern North Carolina counties: Halifax, Northampton,
Nash, Wilson, Johnston, Cumberland, Sampson and Robeson. Many of our members, their
neighbors, friends and family live within the “blast zone” of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. These
counties are served by excellent fire departments, many of them volunteer. Having been involved
in a volunteer fire department as a wife for almost 40 years, and as the mother of the current
Chief of a volunteer department, I am well aware of the commitments to service and training that
rural firefighters make, and the challenges that the ACP may present to our rural departments.
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The Muddy Stream Crooners sing a little ditty about Virginia Governor Northam's inaction regarding the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast Pipelines. |
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In March, BREDL sent letters to North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and Virginia Governor Ralph Northam expressing our concerns regarding the tactics being used by private security for both Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines. |
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July 19, 2018:
This week the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and its chapter, Concern for the New Generation, 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.
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against the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality regarding the Atlantic Coast Pipeline
June 20, 2018: The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) and its Virginia chapters, Protect Our Water, Concern for the New Generation and No ACP, filed a Title VI civil rights complaint with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) office of External Civil Rights Compliance Office (ECRCO). BREDL’s Stop the Pipelines Campaign Coordinator, Sharon Ponton, stated, “The 26-page complaint tells the story of VADEQ’s segmented process for 401 water quality certification and asks the EPA to void the certification until a thorough environmental justice analysis is completed. We believe we have presented a strong case indicating the environmental justice communities along the path of the proposed ACP will be disproportionately impacted by health impacts from pollution caused by toxic, polluting pipeline infrastructure and its contributions to global warming from leaks and its compressor station, as well as the health affects from noise and toxic emissions from its compressor stations. The complaint also outlines disproportionate impacts from possible threats to water supplies, safety related issues from discriminatory construction rules, and property loss through eminent domain.”
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June 20, 2018: Last year, Preservation Virginia stated, and the Virginia State Historic Preservation Office concurred with the need for extensive archaeological investigations beyond the confines of the diminutive archaeological sites identified by MVP/Tetra Tech on the Angle property, including the National Register eligible 44FR0372 on an adjoining property.
The Rosebud Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Historic Preservation Officers visited the Angle property on March 5 this year.
The entire floodplain along the Blackwater River in Franklin County, VA must be investigated for archaeological significance, not just a few tiny MVP-defined sites. Also, the Sioux Tribes must be allowed an opportunity to articulate the religious and cultural significance of the Angle farm and other MVP-affected properties.
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extend its construction operating hours
June 11, 2018: BREDL urges the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to deny MVP variance request MVP-003 to extend its operating hours of construction.
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May 29, 2018: ROCKY MOUNT, VA—A team consisting of seven Sioux tribal historic preservationists surveyed the Mountain Valley Pipeline project area in Franklin and Roanoke Counties, VA last week, and the data generated by their survey may be used in a legal challenge to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s process of working with Native American tribes as required under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. The seven team members drove from their homes in the Rosebud Sioux, Cheyenne River Sioux, and Pine Ridge Sioux reservations in South Dakota to Wirtz, Virginia, where they were hosted by members of Preserve Franklin, a chapter of Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League. The team walked the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) corridor on properties in Rocky Mount, Boones Mill, Callaway, and Bent Mountain where landowners had given permission for the survey.
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May 15, 2018: BREDL and our chapters Concerned Stewards of Halifax County, Nash Stop the Pipeline, Wilson County No Pipeline, No Pipeline Johnston County and Cumberland County Caring Voices along with the groups NC WARN,
Clean Water for NC, EcoRobeson, Concerned Citizens of Tillery, Concerned Citizens of Northampton County, Friends of the Earth and NC Environmental Justice Network have filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. EPA against the NC DEQ.
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Virginia Tech Commencement May 11, 2018
May 11, 2018: Governor Northam was this year's Virginia Tech Commencement speaker. So, a few no pipeline banners, signs and flyers were displayed throughout campus.
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May 3, 2018
May 3, 2018: BREDL, Chapters and Friends displayed various no pipelines banners and signs throughout Virginia, North Carolina and region.
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Protests continue over construction of the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast underground natural gas pipelines. And opponents hope governor takes action to halt the projects.
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STOP THIS PIPELINE.
Honorable Roy A. Cooper, North Carolina Office of the Governor  Please visit nopipeline.net to view inspirational videos featuring landowners affected by the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Contact Governor Cooper today and tell him to STOP THIS PIPELINE! |
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Feb. 18, 2018: On today's front page of The Roanoke Times, the paper reports on the Mountain Valley Pipeline contractor's citations for environmental issues on three previous projects. These pipeline projects are the Stonewall Gathering, Rover and Mariner EAst 2.
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Jan 30, 2018: Lou Zeller, Executive Director of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, calls in to talk about the Buckingham Circuit Court's decision to dismiss the case by Judge William Alexander. At issue is the pollution, noise and unfair selection of the site for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline Compressor Station.
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Jan 22, 2018: BREDL is airing an ad on local radio stations in Buckingham County, VA. The ad precedes the upcoming January 29 court date regarding the proposed natural gas compressor station.
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2017
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proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline Nov. 20, 2017: This new facility would move gas along the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. If permitted, the Northampton Compressor Station would be a major source of air pollution. The NC Department of Environmental Quality draft permit incorrectly allows the facility to be a minor source, a violation of the federal Clean Air Act.
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Oct. 22, 2017: On behalf of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) and our members and chapters in Virginia, I respectfully submit these comments regarding the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) responsibilities to the citizens of the commonwealth concerning water quality as it relates to erosion and sedimentation issues from the proposed
Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP).
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Oct. 17, 2017: Atlantic Coast Pipeline will create, according to the resolution, a “development dead zone” 1,300 feet wide by 12 miles long running through the heart of western Wilson County. And that would lower property values and “adversely affect” both residents and Wilson County as a whole.
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Impacted Communities Remain United against the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines Oct. 16, 2017: The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) strongly condemns the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) October 13, 2017 decision to grant conditional approval for the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines. The agency granted the certification even though important environmental permits are still in question in three states.
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Aug. 17, 2017: Boones Mill, VA – On Thursday evening, members of Preserve Franklin, Preserve Floyd and Preserve Roanoke, grassroots chapters of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, held a People’s Hearing on the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Having been denied a hearing by the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Franklin County residents and their neighbors in Bent Mountain, Floyd and Roanoke organized their own hearing in which to comment on the 401 Water Certification currently being reviewed by the State Water Control Board.
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Aug. 15, 2017: BREDL calls upon Virginia DEQ to require individual permits for each stream and water body crossed by a pipeline. Our review indicates that the site-specific permitting process is lawful, necessary and prudent. Failure to comply would result in degradation of the environment and adverse impacts on public health.
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Aug. 3, 2017: “The watersheds in the upland areas of the proposed pipeline routes affect the water quality of millions of Virginians; they cannot be ignored or neglected by a faulty DEQ permitting process.”
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July 19, 2017:
The further development of fracked gas pipelines and compressor stations in Virginia would be an environmental and public health disaster of epic proportions. Explosions, fires and accidents may steal the headlines, but the even greater catastrophe would be the silent progression of disease and death caused by the invisible contamination of the air, water and soil. We are calling on the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the State Water Control Board (SWCB) to do whatever they can to halt this man-made, preventable tragedy.
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July 20, 2017: The location of a liquefied natural gas plant in close proximity to a city of 145,000 people and an elementary school indicates appalling judgment on the part of both the company in locating at the site and the state in permitting the facility.
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July 12, 2017: In these comments, we criticize the flawed methodology employed by MVP’s historic preservation consultant, Tetra Tech, in its assessment of the MVP pipeline’s impacts to historic resources in Virginia, and demand that the assessment be done over in a correct and appropriate manner.
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April 10, 2017: Gov. Cooper, on behalf of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and our North Carolina chapters Nash Stop the Pipeline, Cumberland County Caring Voices, Wilson County No Pipeline, No Pipeline Johnston County, and Concerned Stewards of Halifax County, I request that you take immediate executive action halting all permitting by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and state agencies until an investigation takes place into the continually changing circumstances surrounding the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
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April 4 to 11 Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and chapters will take to the highways and byways of North Carolina and Virginia for eight days in April on a barnstorming tour of communities threatened by natural gas pipelines. The Stop The Pipeline—Roll Back Pollution campaign will feature Lois Marie Gibbs, the national leader of the grassroots environmental movement since 1981. The roadshow will track the routes of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Daily public events and press conferences
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On Monday, January 23, 2017 Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL), BREDL chapters and other environmental groups filed a motion with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to rescind and/or supplement the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) the agency released on December 30, 2016. The need for this action became clear after Dominion and its partners (including Duke Energy) in the Atlantic Coast Pipeline added thousands of pages of additional information obviously prepared before the DEIS was issued, on January 10, 2017. The motion also requests that the FERC “hold the public comment period in abeyance” until the supplemental DEIS is issued.
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Jan. 11, 2017: Buckingham County, VA—Members of Concern for the New Generation (CNG), a grassroots group from the Union Hill and Union Grove communities, will take a 6-hour drive to Philadelphia Thursday, Jan 12, 2017 to meet with representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region III . The group will request that the EPA step in to protect the people who live close to the proposed plant site.
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2016
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Environmental Impact Statement Fatally Flawed Dec. 22, 2016: Today, the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL), in comments to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, called upon the agency to select the no-build option for the Mountain Valley Pipeline. In its analysis of the Draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS) for the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline, BREDL found many flaws and a lack of thorough study and documentation, from erosion and sedimentation to electromagnetic effects when pipelines are near high voltage electric lines.
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Dec. 14, 2016: The report, subtitled “Unfair, Illegal and Unjust,” concludes that the Buckingham County Planning Commission failed with respect to its legal obligation to ensure that the facility does not have a disproportionate impact on Buckingham’s African American community.
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Oct. 27, 2016: Franklin County, Virginia— Today, artists, landowners, and eco-activists celebrated the launch of Woven Gaze: Eyes of the Earth. Conceived by the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL), the unveiling of the project involved many coordinated efforts of people throughout the region; leadership for this launch included Steve and Anne Bernard, Kelly Love and Carolyn Reilly.
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Demand NO Easement Agreement Oct. 18, 2016: Franklin County, VA – Today at a public hearing, opponents of the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline presented their arguments against an easement agreement to the Franklin County Board of Supervisors. Many landowners expressed outrage at the deception by the Board about its position on the agreement.
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Sept. 26, 2016: Unwanted, unpleasant noise is a growing public health problem. Industrial sources of noise such as natural gas compressor stations commonly disrupt communities. But the economic considerations of special interest groups cannot be allowed to take precedence over the right to be secure in one’s home.
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Sept. 22, 2016: Roanoke, Virginia—Residents from across the region joined forces this morning to shine a light on Governor McAuliffe's ill-conceived support of two proposed 42-inch fracked gas transmission pipelines—the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines. The protest, dubbed "Pipelines are DIRTY Business" was held outside the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce where Governor McAuliffe attended the Roanoke Clean Energy Business Roundtable.
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Buckingham County, VA High Levels of Air Pollution Would Be Emitted
Updated Aug. 2016: Dominion Transmission, Inc. wants to build a series of compressor stations to move gas through the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. If constructed, the Buckingham
Compressor Station would have four natural gas-powered turbines with a total of 40,715 horsepower operating 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.
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Aug. 1, 2016: BREDL’s comments on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Proposal to Reissue and Modify Nationwide Permit 12 for Utility Line Activities (“NWP 12”), and specifically the use of the permit to regulate the construction of gas pipelines. In support of healthy communities and clean environments, we call for the exclusion of gas pipeline projects in the mid-Atlantic mountain region from coverage under Nationwide Permit 12. BREDL Comments
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June 21, 2016: Franklin County, VA— Today the Franklin County Board of Supervisors heard from concerned citizens regarding the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). During the citizen comment period, two presenters detailed major financial and historical factors against the pipeline.
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Unequal Protection
The Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s Discriminatory Laws & Regulations
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Franklin County’s Governing Body Exposed
May 17, 2016: Frankin County, VA – Today, Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) Community Organizer Carolyn Reilly presented to the Franklin County Board of Supervisors (BOS) the long-awaited findings from their FOIA request. In documents obtained by Preserve Franklin, a BREDL chapter, Reilly found clear evidence that the BOS is not taking a neutral stand on the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP).
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May 5, 2016: Huddleston, Virginia—Protesters for both the proposed Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines met
at the Smith Mountain Lake State Park this afternoon to mock Governor McAuliffe’s attempted
greenwashing of his environmental record by planting trees in the State Park. One protester, wearing a
suit and McAuliffe mask, held a dead tree in one arm with a sign saying, “I’m a tree killer.” In the other
arm, he held a pipeline with a sign that said, “I’m a pipeline planter.”
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April 20, 2016: Community groups across Virginia who are fighting the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines have invited Jane Kleeb to Virginia to share her experience of bringing together an unlikely alliance of landowners, farmers, ranchers and Tribal Nations to fight the Keystone XL pipeline. |
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April 2016: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expecting an application for a site permit from the Tennessee Valley Authority to build a new type of nuclear powered electric generating plant near Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The application is expected on or before May 12, 2016. BREDL staff and volunteers attended the NRC’s recent public meeting about the project and is working with local residents who are concerned about TVA’s plans.
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Mar. 10, 2016: Today anti-pipeline groups announced a new legal challenge to the proposed Sabal Trail pipeline. The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and its chapter Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy have filed a request for rehearing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, challenging the recent Order of Approval issued by the federal agency. The challenge centers on three issues: economics, environmental justice and eminent domain.
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2015
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Finds 3 Fatal Flaws in Pipeline Permit Nov. 24, 2015: Today Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) took legal action to challenge the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) by filing a motion to intervene and protest the process. After a careful review of MVPs resource reports regarding the proposed project, the League cited crucial information that challenges the MVP’s request for a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity on three grounds.
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Nov. 6, 2015: Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League expanded its legal challenge of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline based on new information from the United States Forest Service. BREDL soil scientist Jeff Walker stated: “This is obviously a violation of protocol and indicates, at the very least, improper oversight. The company needs to go back to the drawing board and begin the process again.” BREDL organizer Sharon Ponton, a resident of Nelson County, Virgina, stated: “If Dominions cuts corners and tries to weasel out of the protocols set by the US Forest Service, what are they doing to private property owners whose soil is at risk? We cannot trust them.”
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View Press Releases and Photos from the "Hands Across Our Land" August 18, 2015 events.
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Hold Additional Public Hearings
June 18, 2015: The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) made a specific demand to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in its comments on Wednesday, June 16, the stated deadline for the FERC public comment period. The organization made it clear in their comments that the FERC needs to offer additional public hearings and a 90-day extension of the scoping comment deadline regarding the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP).
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June 16, 2015: The pipeline projects outlined in this pre-filing docket represent a massive assault on the environment and the communities along the proposed routes. Moreover, the impacts of extraction, transport and combustion of the fossil fuel which natural gas is will add to the devastating impacts of fossil fuel extraction, transportation and utilization on the entire planet.
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Pipeline? No! by Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy (WACE) - This video is just one of many tools WACE has created over the past couple of months (billboard on I-75, yard signs, flyers, panel discussions, tables at events, radio shows, etc.) to help residents of Alabama, Georgia and Florida in their fight against an insane pipeline project that in the end can only benefit the very few exporting natural gas to Europe and Asia ... because we are witnessing a solar energy revolution unfold in the Southeast that will make natural gas even less attractive than it already is, and not just because of its connection to fracking.
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May 7, 2015: The Mountain Valley Pipeline would be a massive assault on the environment and the communities along the proposed routes. Our members live along those routes. The impacts of extraction, transport and combustion of the fossil fuel which is natural gas would have devastating impacts on local communities, on Virginia, on the nation and, indeed, on the entire planet. Therefore, the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League is calling for community veto of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
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No Pipeline! Press Conference in Fayetteville, NC with C3V - Cumberland County citizens take ACTION to preserve the rights of property owners and to oppose the “Fracking” Atlantic Coast Pipeline. - April 28, 2015
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April 28, 2015: Recent census data compiled by the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League indicate that there would be disproportionate impacts on minority communities and families living at or below the poverty level in the areas in Virginia and North Carolina targeted for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, resulting in an environmental injustice spanning two states.
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April 26, 2015: By Louis A. Zeller, executive director of the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League |
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April 9, 2015: Recently, survey crews have been seen in Franklin County on property they did not have permission to enter. Carolyn Reilly, whose land was wrongly surveyed, said, "This is a violation. We mailed a certified letter to the Mountain Valley Pipeline Project Manager denying permission to survey our family’s land." Reilly said there were strips of blue survey tape tied to trees and shrubs near Teels Creek, which runs through her property.
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Mar. 9, 2015: The Atlantic Coast Pipeline represents a massive assault on the environment and the communities along the proposed routes. Moreover, the impacts of extraction, transport and combustion of the fossil fuel natural gas would have worldwide impact. Once the impacts are weighed, we believe the no action alternative—that is, the denial of the certificate of convenience and public necessity—will be the agency’s only recourse.
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Feb. 12, 2015 "Safeguard America's Resources" Montage Report
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Campaign to Safeguard America’s Resources
Feb. 12, 2015: Today community groups in Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia called for the establishment of local veto power over natural gas extraction, transport and use. At rallies, marches and other public events extending from Floyd, Virginia, across North Carolina to Valdosta, Georgia, people joined in a chorus of protests against pipelines, compressor stations, power plants, hydrofracking wells and waste dumps and for the restoration of property rights and local control over energy policy in the Southeast.
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On Thursday, February 12, 2015, community groups in Virginia, North Carolina and Georgia will hold a day of press conferences, marches and rallies to call for a halt to natural gas facilities in all three states. This day of action will focus public pressure on local government officials. February 12 will provide a patriotic backdrop to the unified call to defend communities from pipelines, compressor stations, power plants, hydrofracking wells and waste dumps and the pollution they bring.
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Pipelines |
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2014
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On December 24, 2014 the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League filed a motion to intervene in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s proceeding for the proposed Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline. The project would cut a 460 mile swath across Alabama, Georgia, and Florida and install five huge gas-burning, internal combustion compressor stations totaling over 200,000 horsepower. Explaining the League’s opposition to the project, Executive Director, Lou Zeller, said, “Natural gas compressors emit huge amounts of air pollution including ozone-forming nitrogen oxides, toxic formaldehyde and global warming greenhouse gas. The Sabal Trail project would not serve the residents of Alabama, Georgia and Florida nor would it benefit the economy of the Southeast.” The League has members and active chapters in Alabama and Georgia and a chapter situated right on the pipeline route through Valdosta, Georgia: Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy.
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