In an effort to demonstrate the profound impacts of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), the Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition (DPMC) has published an online interactive mapping system detailing the environmental risks and sensitivities associated with the proposed route. As the User Guide points out, this program hopes to “organize and provide access to environmental information and… Read more
Dominion has proposed to adopt an alternative route (GWNF 6) for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) in order to avoid the threatened species in the Cheat and Shenandoah Mountain ranges. In order to avoid these mountains, the new, proposed route will pass through Pocahontas County, cross into Highland County and then into Bath and Augusta… Read more
This week, Congress will be voting an appropriations bill that is slated to include provisions that would that would significantly harm national forests. These appropriations are part of a wider deal to reform federal spending on the wildfire budget, allowing more disaster funds to be used for fire fighting. What this means, however, is that… Read more
As a human species, we seem to be doing our best to overwhelm the natural balances of the earth: we waste about 1/3 of all food produced (and up to 40% in the U.S.), we cut down 46-58,000 square miles of forest a year, and scientists predict global temperature increases as high as 8.6° by 2100. Yet,… Read more
The Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition (DPMC), headed by retired UVA Senior Scientist Rick Webb, seeks to keep Virginia politicians, government bodies, and Dominion on their toes concerning environmental effects of pipelines and natural gas infrastructure. To identify potential problems, DPMC runs a civilian air force that takes photographs of existing and planned infrastructure sites. In their latest investigative effort, the DPMC… Read more
Dominion has responded to concerns about impacts to the rare Cow Knob salamander with an extreme proposal to drill though Shenandoah Mountain. The so-called horizontal directional drilling would involve two separate sections of 1.3 and 1.1 miles. Damage to Cow Knob salamander habitat would not be completely avoided, a native brook trout stream would be… Read more
The coalition of citizens, naturalists, biologists, scholars, families, landowners, and forest-enthusiasts fighting our region’s natural gas infrastructure know that the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) threatens the region as we know it. The ACP, if built, will pose an imminent risk to air quality, water quality, community and environmental integrity, as well as legal rights and… Read more
On September 14, 2015, Wild Virginia filed an objection to the Forest Service’s “Lower Cowpasture Project.” (Read the objection here.) While the U.S. Forest Service includes logging, biomass removal, controlled burning, and dam reconstruction in their idea of “restoration,” Wild Virginia seeks to instead restore wilderness, ecosystems, and habitat area to the Lower Cowpasture region. This is… Read more
You feel adamant that the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline threatens Virginia ecosystems, families, and communities. So then, how do you most effectively bring your voice to the lawmakers who have the jurisdiction to decide that the pipeline is not part of Virginia’s energy future? During the weekend of August 29-30, the Virginia Civic Engagement Table… Read more