Please leave this field empty
Donate Monthly Make a Gift Renew Your Membership Ways to Give
Food & Water Watch Food & Water Watch Food & Water Watch
  • About
  • Problems
  • Campaigns
  • Impacts
  • Research
  • Contact
Donate Monthly Make a Gift Renew Your Membership Ways to Give
  • facebook
  • twitter
Please leave this field empty
Food & Water Watch Food & Water Watch
$
Menu
  • About
  • News
  • Research Library
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Donate
Search
Please leave this field empty
  • facebook
  • twitter

Virginia Legislator Sign-On Letter Calls on Northam, SCC to Deny Permits to Header Pipeline Project

Citing concerns about environment, public health, and inadequate room for public input, legislators speak out against yet another dirty fossil fuel project Virginia Natural Gas is forcing on communities

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • google-plus
  • envelope

We all need safe food and clean water.

Donate
pipeline
05.11.20

Richmond, VA -- In a sign-on letter released today, 12 Virginia state legislators call on Governor Northam and the State Corporation Commission to deny Virginia Natural Gas’s Header Improvement Project (HIP) a certificate of necessity and any future permits, on the grounds that the fossil fuel project is unnecessary for meeting Virginia’s energy needs and is a danger to the environment and human health. 

The Header Improvement Project, a fracked gas infrastructure project including 24 new miles of pipeline and three new compressor stations, has faced backlash both for the negative impacts it would have for Virginia communities, and for the undemocratic way it is being rushed through the approval process without adequate room for public input. 

As legislators state in the letter, “Given this project’s inherent risk to human health, the environment, and ratepayers, ensuring public participation is a high priority and a right for those most directly affected. It is of great concern that the SCC has decided not to take significant action to prioritize robust community engagement, but to adhere to the predetermined schedule, at the height of the COVID-19 state outbreak.” 

A network of pipelines snakes its way through Virginia, contributing to carbon emissions and wreaking havoc on communities through the pollution and mishaps associated with routine pipeline operations. Virginia is already experiencing the impacts of climate change in the form of heat waves, drought, sea level rise, and superstorms. 

“Once again we continue to see business as usual as important decisions are going to be made without the involvement of community stakeholders,” says Delegate Elizabeth Guzman, VA-31 (an impacted district), who led the sign-on effort. “This proposed project will endanger Fauquier and Prince William Counties and their residents; they deserve to have their voices heard and we simply cannot continue to operate our Commonwealth like this any longer.”

“As a Charles City County resident, I am asking that our county not be made a sacrifice zone for merchant power plants to fill their pockets with money,” says Wanda Roberts, representative for the Stop the Abuse of Virginian Energy (SAVE) coalition, which was instrumental in drafting the sign-on letter. “Two proposed fracked gas power plants within one mile of each other, C4GT and Chickahominy, are putting this rural, majority-minority community at tremendous risk.  Our county governing body and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality have permitted the C4GT, with little to no notification to our Environmental Justice community.  The citizens have been and continue to be shut out of the process.  It is time for Virginia Legislators to step up and say ‘NO’ to The Header Improvement Project and the fracked gas power plants.”


 

Related Downloads

  • Legislative Sign-On Letter Opposing HIP

    Legislative Sign-On Letter Opposing HIP
    Media Folder: 
    FWW Files
Printer-friendly versionPrinter-friendly version

Monsanto's Roundup is a "probable human carcinogen." We need to ban it!

Get the latest on your food and water with news, research and urgent actions.

Please leave this field empty

Latest News

  • Trump’s Out, Biden’s In! Now The Fight Of Our Lives On Climate Begins.

    Trump’s Out, Biden’s In! Now The Fight Of Our Lives On Climate Begins.

  • Biden’s 100-Day Must-Do List for a Cleaner, Healthier Country

    Biden’s 100-Day Must-Do List for a Cleaner, Healthier Country

  • Fracking, Federal Lands, And Follow-Through: Will President Biden Do What He Promised?

    Fracking, Federal Lands, And Follow-Through: Will President Biden Do What He Promised?

See More News & Opinions

For Media: See our latest press releases and statements

Food & Water Insights

Looking for more insights and our latest research?

Visit our policy & research library
  • Renewable Natural Gas: Same Ol' Climate-Polluting Methane, Cleaner-Sounding Name

  • The Case to Ban Fracking on Federal Lands

  • Dangerously Deep: Fracking’s Threat to Human Health

Fracking activist with stickersFracking activist in hatLegal team loves family farmsFood & Water Watch organizer protecting your food

Work locally, make a difference.

Get active in your community.

Food & Water Impact

  • Victories
  • Stories
  • Facts
  • Trump, Here's a Better Use for $25 Billion

  • Here's How We're Going to Build the Clean Energy Revolution

  • How a California Activist Learned to Think Locally

Keep drinking water safe and affordable for everyone.

Take Action
food & water watch logo
en Español

Food & Water Watch mobilizes regular people to build political power to move bold & uncompromised solutions to the most pressing food, water, and climate problems of our time. We work to protect people’s health, communities, and democracy from the growing destructive power of the most powerful economic interests.

Food & Water Watch is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.

Food & Water Action is a 501(c)4 organization.

Food & Water Watch Headquarters

1616 P Street, NW,
Washington, DC 20036

Main: 202.683.2500

Contact your regional office.

Work with us: See all job openings

  • Problems
    • Broken Democracy
    • Climate Change & Environment
    • Corporate Control of Food
    • Corporate Control of Water
    • Factory Farming & Food Safety
    • Fracking
    • GMOs
    • Global Trade
    • Pollution Trading
  • Solutions
    • Advocate Fair Policies
    • Legal Action
    • Organizing for Change
    • Research & Policy Analysis
  • Our Impact
    • Facts
    • Stories
    • Victories
  • Take Action
    • Get Active Where You Live
    • Organizing Tools
    • Find an Event
    • Volunteer with Us
    • Live Healthy
    • Donate
  • Give
    • Give Now
    • Give Monthly
    • Give a Gift Membership
    • Membership Options
    • Fundraise
    • Workplace Giving
    • Planned Giving
    • Other Ways to Give
  • About
  • News
  • Research Library
  • Contact
  • Careers
  • Donate
Learn more about Food & Water Action www.foodandwateraction.org.
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • 2021 © Food & Water Watch
  • www.foodandwaterwatch.org
  • Terms of Service
  • Data Usage Policy