Welcome to the seventh week of the Our Common Agenda Education Series, featuring the Pollution Prevention chapter. In this week’s blog post, we will be highlighting our “Protecting Virginia’s Environment & Public Health from Industrial Metal Mining” and “Stopping Unnecessary Pipelines & Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Buildout” policy papers as we hit critical points in the fight to stop harmful industrial projects.
GOLD & METAL MINING IN VIRGINIA
The Gold Pyrite Belt cuts through the heart of Virginia, running from Northern Virginia deep into Southside. Image credit: Stephani Rinaldi
In Virginia, a large gold-pyrite belt stretches from Fairfax to Halifax county. This geological structure contains metals like iron, gold, copper, zinc, and pyrite. This belt crosses the James River, a source of drinking water for 2.7 million people, and intersects innumerable Virginia communities, many of which are Environmental Justice communities.
Metal mining is the nation’s #1 toxic polluter and is land intensive; existing open-pit mine sites in other states cover thousands of acres. As the Commonwealth spends millions to restore the Chesapeake Bay and reduce nutrient and sediment discharges across the watershed, it makes no sense to introduce this significant new source of pollutants to the watershed without a careful study of its potential impacts on water quality and the ability for Virginia’s regulatory programs to prevent such impacts.
OUR METAL MINING POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
- Execute robust public engagement within the work group review process as written and intended by HB2213 (2021).
- Ensure the Department of Energy has the necessary funding to execute the studies and analysis needed.
- Analyze current regulations regarding base metals, such as copper, zinc, and lead, that are mined and/or processed using similar techniques.
- Establish a moratorium on permitting any large-scale mining of gold, copper, lead, and zinc operations within the Commonwealth until the analysis of mining regulations based on study results is complete.
Thank you to our Partners at Appalachian Voices, Friends of Buckingham, the Piedmont Environmental Council, Virginia Community Rights Network, and the Virginia League of Conservation Voters for your devoted advocacy to protect Virginia from metal mining!
The Mountain Valley Pipeline
THE MOUNTAIN VALLEY PIPELINE
Since its announcement in 2014, Virginians have been fighting the Mountain Valley Pipeline (aka the “MVP”). While development has been ongoing, with countless landscapes and lives already being harmfully impacted, the pipeline is still not completed. There is still time to halt the buildout of the MVP.
The MVP is currently trying to obtain a 401 Clean Water Protection Permit, allowing the leaky, polluting pipeline to cross over 250 wetlands & streams in the Commonwealth. The pipeline has already violated existing permits over 300 times. This permit, and the Army Corps of Engineers issued 404, is one of the last remaining to stop construction on the MVP. The final decision will be made at the State Water Control Board Hearing December 14th in Richmond, VA.
TAKING ACTION AGAINST THE MOUNTAIN VALLEY PIPELINE
VCN and our Partners have been working to slow the buildout, and ultimately halt, the Mountain Valley Pipeline. While it’s not hard to find heartbreaking stories of how the pipeline buildout has caused loss of homes and property for Virginians, harmful pollution contamination of our environments, and destroyed our scenic landscapes, we hope the following story encourages you to join our fight in stopping the MVP.
Daryl Downing, VCN Board Member and Executive Committee member of the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, shared his story exemplifying his dedication to the fight against the MVP, and ultimately the fight to save our native environment. The full story was shared in the Fall 2021 Virginian Sierran, but it is worth re-sharing an abbreviated version below. Daryl’s story shows the lengths Virginians are willing to go to stop an atrocious, unnecessary pipeline, but we can’t expect this level of commitment from everyone. Make sure to join our Trail Guide to the General Assembly events to lobby your legislators to stop the MVP!
IF NOT ME, WHO? IF NOT NOW, WHEN?
Daryl Downing, VCN Board Member and Sierra Club Executive Committee Member
Full story available in the Fall 2021 edition of the Virginian Sierran
I was arrested July 9th for interfering with the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP).
I signed up for a nonviolent direct action (NVDA, a form of civil disobedience). There are many tools in an environmentalist’s toolkit and I decided it was my turn to use this one.
On the morning of July 9th , several dozen of us walked onto the site in Elliston, VA where the pipeline is under construction. I had a 5-gallon bucket for a seat with a piece of foam rubber as a cushion. I had water and food.
The sun rose and we baked. There was no relief. We waited and sweated.
When the State Police were ready, they sawed the wooden yellow finch art piece to which we were secured. It was a day of waiting. I was handcuffed and taken to the police vehicle that would take us to the jail in Christiansburg.
We were put in a holding cell until the magistrate was ready to speak with us. Cash bail had to be paid but everyone was released that day. My court appearance is in October—it remains to be seen what will happen there.
In summary, I don’t regret my decision to participate in this NVDA. I met an amazing group of very capable, dedicated, and supportive individuals who are willing to defend the environment even if it means they’re going to be arrested. #NoMVP
Stopping unnecessary pipelines doesn’t stop with the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Read our policy recommendations for stopping unnecessary fossil fuel buildout below:
OUR PIPELINE & FOSSIL FUEL BUILDOUT POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
- Add a site suitability requirement to Va. code section § 62.1-44.15:81 that includes consideration of environmental justice.
- Include bonding/restoration requirements in permit applications for fossil fuel and biogas projects.
- Require an individual Virginia Water Protection Permit and Uplands Certification under Article 2.6 of the State Water Control Law for all natural gas transmission pipelines 24 inches inside diameter and greater that are subject to § 7c of the Natural Gas Act.
- Require DEQ approval for pipeline variances submitted to FERC that could affect water quality, or impact the 401 certification (as allowed by federal law).
- Increase state review and oversight, via public participation, of pipelines, including those intended to transport biogas.
Thank you to our Partners at Appalachian Voices, Southern Environmental Law Center, the Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, Wild Virginia, and especially Daryl Downing for your devoted advocacy to stop pipeline development in Virginia!