Doug Jackson, 202.495.3045 or doug.jackson@sierraclub.org
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has rejected a vital part of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s (ACP) construction process. The ACP, a joint project of Duke Energy, Dominion Energy and their subsidiaries, would transport fracked gas from West Virginia over 600 miles through Virginia and North Carolina. Two weeks ago, the Associated Press published leaked audio of a Dominion executive saying “everybody knows” the pipeline would go into South Carolina, though publicly released maps of the project have only shown it ending in North Carolina.
DEQ posted its letter of disapproval of the erosion and sedimentation control plan for the project, dated September 26, on Friday. ACP cannot start construction in North Carolina without DEQ’s approval of this plan and now must either submit a revised plan or contest the rejection.
In response, Sierra Club Beyond Dirty Fuels Director Kelly Martin released the following statement:
"We applaud Governor Cooper and the NC DEQ for hearing the concerns of North Carolinians and rejecting the flawed erosion control plan for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. These fracked gas pipelines are dirty, dangerous relics of the last century and we shouldn’t be building them when clean, renewable energy sources are abundant and affordable."
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