Adjustments Made to Pipeline Route

Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC  announced on Monday, May 18th that it had identified several alternate route segments as potentially having the least impact to environmental, historic and cultural resources and those changes were being incorporated into the proposed route of its approximately 550-mile interstate natural gas transmission pipeline across three states. The proposed route through Pocahontas and Highland has not been changed at this time – the alternative routes to be incorporated lie in Augusta and Nelson counties.

According to Leslie Hartz, vice president-Pipeline Construction for Dominion Transmission Inc., the company has been listening to landowners and federal and state agencies and surveying to find the route with the least impact. These alternative routes have not yet been surveyed, and ACP  is in the process of contacting affected landowners for permission to do so, as well as re-contacting parties who did not agree to the company’s earlier requests. Overall, about 83 percent of landowners throughout the entire route have given the company permission to survey. A final proposed route will be included in the formal FERC application later this summer.

On Tuesday, May 19^th, ACP  filed 12 Draft Environmental Resource Reports with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The reports detail existing environmental, cultural and socioeconomic conditions and potential impacts resulting from construction and operation of the proposed pipeline. In addition to outlining potential impacts, the resource reports must explain plans for avoiding, minimizing or mitigating those impacts. Project aspects include – General Project Description;  Water Use and Quality; Fish, Wildlife and Vegetation; Cultural Resources;  Socioeconomics;  Geological Resources; Soils; Land Use, Recreation and Aesthetics; Air and Noise Quality; Route Alternatives; Reliability and Safety; and PCB Contamination.

The reports total around 5,400 pages. For a high level summary provided by ACP,  including brief descriptions and key findings, see this story on our website, alleghenymountainradio.org. The final reports, as well as a proposed final route, will be submitted with the project application later this summer.

ACP Resource Report Description and Key Findings 051915.docx