Eco-Fest to Raise Awareness About Pipelines

 

On Saturday, September 20, an event called “Eco-Fest” will take place at The Spring in Lewisburg. The goal of Eco-Fest is to present an evening of music, and provide helpful information about proposed natural gas pipelines in the area, including the Atlantic Coast Pipeline which could travel through the Monongahela Forest.

Leslie McCarty is the Coordinator for the Greenbrier Watershed Association, based in Lewisburg. She said the event is sponsored by a newly formed group called E-Coalition.

“We started by talking to some artists and musicians who were interested in doing things for environmental causes,” McCarty said. “We think we might have 3 or 4 events a year to raise money for different environmental causes. We decided the pipelines would be the first thing we would focus on because that’s happening right now and it’s imminent.”

eco-fest-posterRepresentatives from groups working on pipeline issues in Virginia and West Virginia will attend to answer questions and present information.

“There are now two proposals for pipelines—not just Dominion, which is interested in crossing Pocahontas County and the National Forest, but also there is one that would come south and cross Summers County and the extreme western end of Greenbrier that’s called the Mountain Valley,” McCarty said. “ So there’s one now called Atlantic Coast that affects Pocahontas, and there’s one called Mountain Valley.”

“It’s hard to get information, even if you are working at it a lot,” she said. “It’s hard to get good maps, hard to understand the process that they’ll have to go through to get it approved. So we’re trying to educate people, so during the evening people will make short presentations, and the people will be wearing name tags so you can talk to them.”

Food will be available for purchase, and live music will take place from 7pm-midnight. “We have two different bands coming,” McCarty said. “Dave McCormick is coming from Charleston; he’s a singer/songwriter who’s really good. And the Night Crawlers are a band from Pendleton County. They’re really good blues and Americana and rock bands.”

Eco Fest will take place on Saturday, September 20th starting at 7pm at the Spring in Lewisburg. Tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the door. All proceeds will go to groups like the Greenbrier Watershed Association, who are working to research pipeline projects and keep people informed.

“You’ll get to meet people who are working on the issues. If you have questions, you can probably get them answered, or at least know who to contact for information on the subject.”

Story By

Megan Moriarty

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