The Fight Against the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast Pipelines Continues

This summer, Max Rooke, left, and Lara Mack of our Virginia team shared news and resources about the fight against proposed pipelines at events across the state.

As federal regulators continue to rubber-stamp the dangerous, inadequate plans for the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines, we’re continuing to fight back alongside residents and grassroots groups across Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Throughout the summer, our team has been driving turnout to state water quality permit hearings, challenging Virginia’s inadequate review process, and sharing information about these unnecessary projects far and wide.

We’ve collected public comments for three federal agencies and are continuing to urge residents across North Carolina and Virginia to participate in the ongoing environmental reviews in their states.

For regularly updated information on upcoming hearings, action opportunities and public comment periods, visit appvoices.org/fracking/actions and check our Events listings on Facebook.

Max Rooke served as our Virginia Grassroots Organizing Assistant this summer. Below is an excerpt of her reflections on this internship from our blog.

“The past two months have allowed me to learn skills I didn’t realize were skills and hear stories from impacted landowners who I would never have met if not for this internship. …
The most important thing I learned was how to draw people together around a shared goal, which is the core of grassroots organizing. As I take on other challenges, I’m grateful to the wonderful Appalachian Voices team for helping me learn about how people can work together to protect their environment.

As summer ends, my time with Appalachian Voices is ending as well, but the fight against the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines is as hot as ever. August brings five official public hearings regarding the pipelines as well as two informal meetings, and by the end of the month, all three relevant public comment periods will have ended. Although I’ll be in Hampton Roads far from the proposed construction, we’re all downstream.

Come August 14, I will be driving two hours to Dinwiddie, Va., with a jar of water from the Chowan Watershed, which the Atlantic Coast Pipeline would snake through near the Virginia-North Carolina border. That night in Dinwiddie, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality will hold its last public hearing regarding either pipeline’s impact on water quality in the state. I will join others in speaking out against the proposed pipelines and protecting our access to clean water from the mountains to my coastal marshes.”