League declares DEQ acting in violation of state water quality standards

The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and its chapters issued a letter of complaint to Attorney General Mark Herring regarding the Department of Environmental Quality and its failure to comply with state water quality statutes.

In a formal letter sent to the Attorney General and all state senators and representatives, the League states “the site-specific permitting process … is a preferable, necessary and prudent means of protecting water quality which complies with both federal and state law.  Moreover, failure to comply would result in degradation of the environment and adverse impacts on public health”

Bonnie Law of the Preserve Franklin chapter, which has opposed the Mountain Valley Pipeline for three years, called on the DEQ to do their job and create a process in which landowners could comment on each individual water crossing stating “Tax paying Virginia landowners, who have done nothing wrong, have the right to be heard if a private corporation is threatening to take their land and destroy their water.”

The complaint states: “Together, the amount of land area that would be disturbed or permanently impacted by the ACP and MVP would be over 10,000 acres and the number of waterbody crossings totals over 2,700.” Louis Zeller, Executive Director of BREDL and author of the letter stated: “we believe that the pipeline projects, when properly and fully considered, will be found insufficient for approval by the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

Frank McManus of Protect Our Waters, Nelson County chapter which has organized against the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, shared similar sentiments: “It is our judgment that each stream and body of water in the path of the proposed ACP and MVP must be analyzed and permitted individually, ensuring not only the safety of that body of water, but any body of water they flow into. We at Protect Our Waters are committed to preserving and protecting all waters, aquifers, and the ecosystems they support.”

The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League, founded in 1984, is a regional, community-based, non-profit environmental organization with chapters and projects in six states.The founding principles are earth stewardship, environmental democracy, social justice and community empowerment.