ABRA introduces Pipeline Compliance Surveillance Initiative

In a press release last week, the Allegheny Blue Ridge Alliance, announced a citizen initiative to monitor construction activities of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. ABRA, a coalition of over 50 organizations in Virginia and West Virginia includes several local groups. They are: the Cowpasture River Preservation Association, Jackson River Preservation Association, Greenbrier River Watershed Association, Friends of Shenandoah Mountain, and Voices from Bath.   The objective of the Pipeline Compliance Surveillance Initiative (Pipeline CSI) is to ensure strict application of environmental laws and regulations for the ACP.

Rick Webb, of the Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition, also an ABRA member, is chairing development of this new program. He commented. “We strongly believe that the ACP is unneeded and cannot be built safely without causing permanent damage to the environment, particularly critical water resources. We will continue to challenge the government decisions involving the project. But, with certain pre-construction activities already underway, citizen oversight is essential given the limited resources of government agencies that are responsible for regulating pipeline construction.”

Webb noted, as result of DPMC’s research and experience, “the need for citizen oversight of pipeline construction has been made clear by observations of recent pipeline projects and ineffective government agency response to repeated violations and water resource harm. We have no reason to expect more from the agencies during construction of the ACP, given their failure to require submission of complete environmental plans- prior to project approval. This deferral of critical review and analysis sets the stage for significant and long-term degradation of high-quality streams and groundwater supplies.”

The Pipeline Compliance Surveillance Initiative, or Pipeline CSI is gathering in-depth data and assessing the landscape the ACP is proposed to cross to fill in information gaps in official records. The effort will involve hundreds of volunteer observers in Virginia and West Virginia, and collaboration with multiple environmental organizations. The program will include extensive water quality monitoring and aerial reconnaissance. Initial phases of the Pipeline CSI will focus on mountainous areas of the pipeline route, where ACP construction threatens water quality in the headwaters of some

of the major watershed systems in the eastern United States. Results from the information gathered will be shared with regulatory agencies and the media. More information about the Pipeline CSI will be forthcoming in the next couple of weeks, and will be available on the ABRA website.

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline received a permit for construction from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on October 13, subject to the project receiving other state and federal agency approvals.  FERC limited tree felling for the ACP on January 19^th. Opinions expressed in this news piece are those of ABRA member organizations.