Center for Biological Diversity


For Immediate Release, January 21, 2016

Contact:
Ben Luckett, Appalachian Mountain Advocates, (304) 645-0125
bluckett@appalmad.org,

Hannah Weigard, Appalachian Voices, hannah@appvoices.org

Anne Havemann, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, anne@chesapeakeclimate.org

Kirk Bowers, Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, kirk.bowers@sierraclub.org

Jared M. Margolis, Center for Biological Diversity, (971) 717-6404, jmargolis@biologicaldiversity.org

Forest Service Denies Atlantic Coast Pipeline Route

ROANOKE, Va. --- The U.S. Forest Service today formally denied the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s (ACP) application for a special use permit. This denial is likely to seriously delay the project. The ACP must provide a new route or system alternatives before it can proceed.

As planned, the pipeline would run across 550 miles through West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. It would be larger in diameter than the Keystone XL. Approximately 40 to 50 miles of the ACP would cut through the Washington and Monongahela national forests. The pipeline would cut a large and permanent clearcut throughout the entire length of the pipeline, causing dramatic forest fragmentation through some of the most high-quality forest habitat in our region.

Ben Luckett, staff attorney with Appalachian Mountain Advocates, said: “We’re thrilled the Forest Service followed through on its duty to protect the forests. Dominion’s arrogance in trying to force its project into an entirely inappropriate area is shocking.”

The Forest Service’s basis for denying the special use permit is the proposed route’s likely impacts on the Cow Knob and Cheat Mountain salamanders and the West Virginia northern flying squirrel. The Forest Service’s regulations and the relevant forest plans prohibit the agency from authorizing any activities that would harm those rare and endangered species. It rejected ACP’s contention that using a technique called horizontal directional drilling to go under Shenandoah Mountain would avoid these impacts.

“This project has been fast-tracked from the beginning with no regard for the treasure trove of natural resources in its path, as today’s decision by the Forest Service clearly shows, nor the extent of the impact on communities and property owners,” said Hannah Wiegard, Virginia campaign coordinator with Appalachian Voices. She noted that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which must issue a permit for the project, had sent ACP a 30-page notification last month detailing scores of deficiencies in the company’s permit application.

This denial also sets the tone for the Forest Service’s forthcoming response to the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), a similarly sized pipeline routed through West Virginia and Virginia. The MVP is proposed to cut across the Jefferson National Forest, land managed by the same branch of the Forest Service that issued today’s route denial. 

“The MVP threatens many of the same devastating impacts on prime forest habitat,” Luckett said.  The Forest Service is expected to comment on the MVP proposal in the coming months.

Several conservation groups oppose these proposed pipelines not only because of the direct forest impacts, but also for the role they would play in delaying renewable energy development.

 “Billions of dollars of new natural gas infrastructure is proposed for our region,” said Kate Asquith, program director for Appalachian Mountain Advocates. “Dominion’s ill-conceived plan to sink that massive investment in gas would lock us into continued reliance on dirty, climate-altering fossil fuels for decades. Every dollar invested in this outdated and destructive infrastructure could be invested in clean, renewable energy instead.”

Kirk Bowers, Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, said: “The Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club applauds the action of the US Forest Service. We support their efforts to keep our national forests and our mountains from being devastated by large fracked gas pipelines. Our national forests were reserved for the enjoyment of all citizens of the states and they provide recreational and economic base for our communities. These pipelines fragment our forests, jeopardize the protection of endangered species, and cross some of the most highly sensitive areas on the East Coast.”

Anne Havemann, general counsel of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network said: “We applaud the Forest Service for denying this permit and recognizing the threat this massive pipeline poses to the unique wildlife the agency is entrusted to protect. As more details emerge about the devastating impacts the pipeline will have on Virginians’ health and natural heritage, and on the world's climate, the pressure will only grow for other agencies to follow the Forest Service’s lead and put the public interest ahead of Dominion's profits.”

“This pipeline would be an unmitigated disaster for rare wildlife like the Cow Knob salamander, and would intensify climate disruption by increasing fracking and continuing our reliance on fossil fuels,” said Jared Margolis, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity who focuses on the impacts of energy development on endangered species. “While it is heartening to see the Forest Service step up to ensure that vital habitats on the George Washington National Forest are protected, we do not need alternative routes for this project. What we need is to stop creating more dirty fossil fuel infrastructure and keep it in the ground.”

 


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