RICHMOND, VA -- Late yesterday evening, the Sierra Club, joined by Wild Virginia, Appalachian Voices and Protect Our Water Heritage Rights, filed objections to the United States Forest Service's proposal to facilitate the Mountain Valley Pipeline by weakening crucial provisions of the forest plan for Virginia's Jefferson National Forest, which includes part of the Appalachian Trail.
Mountain Valley sought these amendments because their proposal flatly contradicts many of the provisions adopted to protect the national forest, including the common sense requirement to build any new pipeline can only cross the Appalachian Trail at places where major disturbance already exists. The objections explain that the environmental review for the proposal, overseen by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, was deficient and unlawfully shut the public out of the process. Furthermore, although the pipeline should be denied entirely, it is absolutely clear that the Forest Service cannot allow intact forest to be cleared for a pipeline when there are alternative routes.
In response, Kirk Bowers, Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club Conservation Program Coordinator for Pipelines, released the following statement:
"The Forest Service’s abandonment of its duties to usher through a fracked-gas pipeline is disgraceful and runs counter to its mission. There’s no question about it, the widely-opposed Mountain Valley Pipeline threatens our health and safety and is simply not needed. Clean, renewable energy sources are getting cheaper by the day, and building the Mountain Valley Pipeline would scar our forests and communities while keeping us addicted to the dirty, dangerous fuels of the past."
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.