Posted on 04/01/2017 12:21:44 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
As opponents of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline continue to fight the project, others who believe it will stimulate the economy recently ensured their voices were heard, sending hundreds of letters expressing a positive view of the pipeline to U.S. lawmakers.
The Mid-Atlantic Region of the Laborer’s International Union of America (LIUNA), a union of construction workers and public service employees, on Friday hand-delivered about 1,600 letters from workers to U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner. The letters express support for the proposed $5 billion natural gas pipeline, which would run about 600 miles from West Virginia to North Carolina and through Virginia.
The pipeline is expected to cross about 27 miles in Nelson County.
Of the 1,600 letters, more than 700 are from Virginia residents.
“Our message to Virginia’s senators … is very simple: it’s time to approve this pipeline so we can put Virginia laborers to work rebuilding our nation’s energy infrastructure,” LIUNA Vice President and Mid-Atlantic Regional Manager Dennis L. Martire said.
“This is the biggest job-creating project we’ve seen in Virginia in many years. It will put thousands of Virginia laborers to work, generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new income for working families and bring more than $1 billion in new investment into our communities. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rebuild Virginia’s middle class, and we need to seize it.”
The letters also have been submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which ultimately will decide whether to approve the project.
Opponents maintain the proposed project would leave lasting negative effects on communities along the route. In Nelson County, opponents worry about steep slopes during construction and contamination to water sources, among other potential issues. Dominion says it will employ a Best-in-Class Steep Slope Program to ensure the safety of Nelson residents and will monitor water quality during and after construction.
The project currently is being reviewed by the agency.
FERC released a draft environmental impact statement that looks at potential effects of the pipeline on the environment and residents along the route in December 2016. A comment period, during which individuals and organizations can submit their thoughts on the project and contents of the draft document, remains open through Thursday.
FERC has said it expects to release a final environmental impact statement in June. FERC should make a decision on whether to approve the project by the fall, putting Dominion, the energy company leading the project, on track to begin construction shortly thereafter.
According to a news release issued by LIUNA’s Mid-Atlantic Region on Friday, the letters delivered to Kaine and Warner say Virginia residents “are excited about the economic prosperity the project will bring to communities throughout the Commonwealth.”
Dominion Spokesman Aaron Ruby said the pipeline will create more than 7,000 jobs during peak construction in 2018.
Citing studies by Chmura Economics & Analytics and ICF International, Ruby said an estimated 17,000 jobs up and down the route would be created during construction, and about 2,200 jobs would be created after the pipeline has been completed.
Ruby said the project could create more than 10,000 jobs in Virginia during and after construction.
“This pipeline is going to bring new industries and good-paying jobs back to Virginia at levels we haven’t seen in years,” Martire said. “We can’t grow Virginia’s middle class without new industries, and we can’t bring those industries to Virginia without new infrastructure like the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. That’s what this pipeline is all about — it’s a jobs pipeline for Virginia’s middle class.”
LIUNA’s Mid-Atlantic Region includes more than 40,000 workers across five states and Washington, D.C., according to the release, and more than 8,000 skilled laborers in West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina are “ready to construct the pipeline.”
R either one up in 18’?
Little Timmy Kaine is. This shit stain needs to be removed next election
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