Doug Jackson, doug.jackson@sierraclub.org
RALEIGH, N.C. -- Over 40 landowners and community members gathered in Gibsonville, NC Saturday to determine a strategy for stopping the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) Southgate extension. The MVP is a 303-mile proposed fracked gas pipeline whose early construction phase has been marred by legal battles, water protection violations, and other problems. While the current plans take the project through West Virginia and Virginia, the pipeline’s developers recently applied for permission to extend the project into North Carolina.
Saturday’s training was organized by The Sierra Club, The Haw River Assembly, and Appalachian Voices, three organizations committed to healthy water, climate, and communities. The program featured an attorney answering questions on landowner rights, a panel with landowners affected by the MVP’s current route, and a discussion of how residents could engage their community, elected officials, and the media.
Emily Sutton, the Haw Riverkeeper, said:
"We are encouraged to see so many impacted community members involved in the fight to stop this unnecessary project. This pipeline would put our communities and environment at risk to benefit only the wealthy corporations and investors involved."
Caroline Hansley, Organizing Representative for Sierra Club’s Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign, said:
“Residents are standing up for their property rights against the polluting corporations rushing to build this dirty, dangerous, and unnecessary fracked gas pipeline. They have seen the problems similar projects have caused in other communities and decided they would stand together to say no the Mountain Valley Pipeline.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 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.
About the Haw River Assembly
The Haw River Assembly works to promote environmental education, conservation and pollution prevention; to speak as a voice for the river in the public arena, and to put into people's’ hands the tools and the knowledge they need to be effective guardians of the river. The Haw River Assembly has been dedicated to the goal of environmental justice and equality for all people in our watershed since 1982.
About Appalachian Voices
Appalachian Voices is a leading nonprofit advocate for a just economy and healthy environment in the Appalachian region and a driving force in America’s shift from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy. Appalachian Voices promotes diverse local economies and thriving communities and defends the land, air and water of our region from the worst environmental threats. For more information, visit appvoices.org.