The Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition (DPMC) has written Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe “to restore the integrity and credibility of your administration’s regulatory reviews of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) and Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) proposals.” The September 22 letter points to recent regulatory actions in other states to address concerns over the impact of natural gas pipelines on water quality:
These judicial and state actions further illustrate that Virginia has all necessary authority to reject pipeline projects unless it is proven that water protection standards will be met and that the evidence now before the State fails to meet that requirement for either ACP or MVP.
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Your administration must follow the example North Carolina has shown. Do not force your constituents to take problems with ACP and MVP before a judge when those deficiencies are already so clearly known to state agency staff. Do not burden Virginia taxpayers with the expense of attempts to defend the indefensible in court.
So, the key question remains: will you treat Virginians fairly and put our interests on the same plain with those of the people of New York, North Carolina, and West Virginia?
DPMC wrote Governor McAuliffe on July 25 raising concerns about the review process being followed by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality in assessing the water quality impacts of the ACP and MVP, but to date, no direct response has been received.