On September 16 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released the much anticipated Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). The DEIS is based upon the resource reports, already submitted to the FERC, which are rife with incomplete and inaccurate data regarding the environmental, economic, and cultural impacts of the 301 mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project. A 90 day public comment period on the contents of the DEIS will end on December 22, 2016. FERC is offering four options by which comments may be submitted. Individual verbal comments will be taken privately by a FERC official and recorded by a stenographer during a series of sessions scheduled during the first three days of November. Note: these are NOT public hearings in which the public will have the opportunity to hear comments made by others! Comments may also be made electronically on the FERC website, as well as in writing to Kimberly Bose. Preserve Craig is in the process of organizing local community meetings to address the DEIS and discuss the next steps in the process of opposing the proposed MVP project. Please plan on attending these very important meetings-time and place to be announced in our next newsletter.
Preserve Craig released the following statement in response to the release of the DEIS:
“It is inconceivable that our government would issue a Draft EIS for public comment when it has been thoroughly documented that there are massive errors, gaps, and possible falsehoods in the information provided by the private corporation that filed this application. This document seems to accept everything submitted by the company as fact, while ignoring thousands of pages of comments submitted by concerned citizens and knowledgeable professionals. FERC offers the unsupported conclusion that such a massive excavation project will have “less-than-significant” environmental effects in steep mountain terrain that is the source of clean drinking water for millions of citizens in Virginia and beyond. FERC continues to perpetuate the claim that this massive project will not negatively affect the value of citizens’ private property, even within as little as 10 feet of the project. FERC’s conclusion is based on a “study” propagated by the natural gas industry itself, while at the same time FERC has ignored a more-recent study of potential impacts on property values and local economies done right here in Virginia. Furthermore, FERC has completely ignored a recent professional study that documented residents’ very high cultural attachment to this region of Appalachia, and another professional study that outlines the severe geologic hazards represented by the MVP proposal. There appears to be no independent analysis by FERC in this document, only a repackaging of obviously biased statements and conclusions from MVP. But none of this is any surprise from a federal agency that brags that it is fully supported by money that comes from the energy industry itself. This DEIS should spark a Congressional investigation of the fraud being perpetrated on the people of this region, and the broader issue that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission charged with evaluating such energy projects is fully staffed with commissioners who come from the very industry that they are supposed to regulate for the good of all American citizens.”
Read more about the DEIS Release here:
Appalachian Mountain Advocates Website: Groups Condemn FERC’s Review of Proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline
Community and Conservation Groups Condemn FERC’s Review of Proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline
FERC Draft Report Calls Pipeline’s Potential Impact “Limited”
Access the FERC DEIS documents here.
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Legislative Update
Thank you to everyone who supported the proposed pipeline legislation by contacting their legislators!
HB 1118 and SB 614 did not make it out of committee. SB 726 was defeated 13-0 by bipartisan vote. S2012 was pulled from the Senate floor.
Please check back periodically for other updates.
Preserve Craig Files for Intervenor Status
Nov 25, 2015
Preserve Craig filed a formal motion for leave to intervene on November 25, 2015 as a necessity to comply with its mission to serve and protect the environmental resources and quality of life of Craig County citizens. It is Preserve Craig’s belief that the MVP application omits or mischaracterizes essential information along the proposed MVP route and formally requests that key questions and issues raised by all affected parties be addressed before issuing the draft Environmental Impact Study. To see the full filing document, click here.
If you missed the FERC Filing-it is not too late! Click here!
Sign this Petition to Fix FERC First (note: the bullet points are the very points made in letters to Federal Legislators by Preserve Craig requesting investigation of the FERC!)
This website provides excellent insight into issues involving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the methodology currently in place to grant permits to the massive number of pipeline applications being approved without proper oversight.
Check out this video series about the Pipeline by Marino Colmano!
Episode 18 – “Mussel up!” includes commentary from Preserve Craig members on how the proposed pipeline route will affect an endangered species located in our county among other environmental concerns.
MVP Files Formal Application – Preserve Craig Responds, October 23, 2015
Mountain Valley Pipeline filed their formal application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today, seeking approval for their proposed natural gas pipeline project. The review and decision process is expected to take a year.
Preserve Craig cautions citizens and landowners, “We continue to oppose the project itself. New routes can be proposed at any time, and we must not let our guard down. Preserve Craig can be proud that our efforts have succeeded in protecting part of Craig County, but that is not good enough. The entire concept of huge underground pipelines in this sensitive topography must be challenged. These projects threatens our water, our resources, and the special quality of life we cherish in our region.”
Programmatic Environmental Impact Study, October 19, 2015
A newly released comprehensive legal memo documents the need for a regional study of the proposed pipelines. Lawyers with the Water and Power Law Group, on behalf of Preserve Craig, Inc., filed a comprehensive report with the FERC earlier this week documenting the importance of a regional programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) that would include all pipelines originating from the Marcellus Shale natural gas fields. Read the full report here.
New Study Undercuts MVP Economic Benefit Claims, October 6, 2015.
A new study by Key-Log Economics (“Reason for Caution: Mountain Valley Pipeline Economic Studies Overestimate Benefits, Downplay Costs”) casts strong doubts on the claims made by MVP for economic benefits of the pipeline in Virginia and West Virginia. This new report shows that previous studies exaggerate the benefits and largely ignore the public and external costs attending the construction, operation and presence of the MVP.
See Press Release here.
See study critiquing MVP FTI report in our library.
Tell Our Elected Officials to Read These Reports
We’ve compiled important reports that are now available at our new e-Library. You can view, download, and refer others to many useful documents about the risks and dangers of the Mountain Valley Pipeline here. Check them out and let our governor and legislators know there are serious problems with this project and the unfair process for licensing pipelines.
Preserve Craig is asking Craig County landowners to share information about their property so that we can use the data to protect our natural resources. Some of this data about our community will be aggregated to supply to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissions (FERC) to show that Craig County is not a place for utility corridors.
Click here for more information and to access the survey.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) scoping comment period about what to include in its Environmental Impact Statement ended at 5 PM EST on June 16. Preserve Craig submitted 17 substantial documents which will be available for viewing on the FERC website shortly (we’ll let you know as soon as they have been posted).
Click here to view FERC’s Notice of Intent issued April 17, 2015
General comments are still being accepted by the FERC as well as specific environmental data about property on or near the proposed routes. So be sure to complete the Property Data Survey above!
Preserve Craig Team