(The Richmond Times-Dispatch) — The two pipelines “represent the death rattle of an obsolete industry, one being rapidly overtaken by clean energy sources like wind and solar, and pose a clear threat to Virginia’s groundwater and waterways.”
Eighteen Democratic committee chairs put their names on a forceful statement Thursday urging Gov. Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring, both Democrats, to “do all they can to stop the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines.”
They joined a growing chorus of Democratic officials pushing the state’s top elected leaders to act on the controversial natural gas pipelines, which will be built through some of Virginia’s most mountainous terrain and cross hundreds of waterways. Opposition stems from a range of concerns: climate change, the use of eminent domain to seize land from unwilling property owners, and the hazards construction and operation of the pipelines could pose to water quality.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline, planned to be built from West Virginia through the southwestern part of the state, is led by EQT Midstream Partners of Pittsburgh. The longer, Dominion Energy-led Atlantic Coast Pipeline is planned to run 600 miles from West Virginia into North Carolina and will carve through the center of Virginia.
Click to continue reading. By ROBERT ZULLO – Richmond Times-Dispatch – May 4, 2018