A public meeting to discuss the potential impacts of the newly proposed route of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) will be held Wednesday, Mar. 2, at 6:30 p.m. at the Linwood Community Library at Snowshoe, 72 Snowshoe Drive, Slatyfork. The meeting is sponsored by the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance (ABRA), a coalition of 45 organizations in West Virginia and Virginia who are addressing the proposed natural gas pipeline. All interested persons are invited to attend Presentations will be made by Lewis Freeman, chair/executive director of ABRA; Rick Lambert, president of the Virginia Speleological Survey; and Joe Lovett, executive director of Appalachian Mountain Advocates, a Lewisburg-based public interest law firm. A question and answer period will follow the presentations. On Feb. 12, Dominion Transmission, Inc., managing partner for the ACP, announced it was proposing a new route for the pipeline project that would depart from the original proposed ACP route just north of Kumbrabow State Forest (at mile marker 47.5), head southeast through Pocahontas County and cross into the southwest corner of Highland County, continue into Bath County and then turn north through the Deerfield Valley, reconnecting with the original proposed route at West Augusta, VA. ABRA released a statement about the new route noting that it “would traverse some of the most concentrated karst topography in the Allegheny region.” Continuing: “A pipeline through this area would significantly increase the likelihood of catastrophic erosion and sediment pollution of several significant waterways. Furthermore, the new route opens up to potential devastation a whole new set of cultural and natural resources. The many newly affected landowners and local officials must be carefully consulted before the project should be allowed to continue with the FERC process. Once again, Dominion has proposed a route without thinking through or understanding the environmental and other consequences of its decision.” Questions about the Mar. 2 meeting should be directed to Allen Johnson at 304-799-4137 or Lewis Freeman at 540-468-2769 and lewfreeman@gmail.com.
