NC DEQ Asks for More Information on Proposed Fracked Gas Pipeline Plan

RALEIGH, NC -- Today, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced it has asked the builders of the proposed fracked gas Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) for additional information on the project. In Thursday’s letter, DEQ requested both qualitative and quantitative data from ACP on matters as varied as what kind of erosion control method they will to use to what they consider “too wide” to mean.

The proposed ACP, a joint venture of Duke Energy and Dominion Energy, would run over 600 miles through West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina, though leaked audio recently revealed Dominion plans to run it through South Carolina, as well. In North Carolina alone, the pipeline would cross more than 320 waterways and pose major threats to water quality, public lands, and communities. It would also incentivize dangerous fracking and encourage the use of dirty fuels, rather than clean energy sources such as wind and solar.

In response, Sierra Club Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign Director Kelly Martin released the following statement:

"Fracked gas projects like the Atlantic Coast Pipeline are dirty, dangerous relics of the last century’s power mix. The ACP would pollute the air we breathe and the water we drink. We commend Gov. Cooper and the NC DEQ for responding to the concerns of North Carolinians by thoroughly reviewing the potential impacts of this unnecessary project."