Groups applaud decision to defer permit vote on Buckingham Compressor Station

The Virginia Air Pollution Control Board decided Friday to defer its vote to its next meeting on Dec. 10 on the air permit for the proposed Buckingham Compressor Station for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

Dominion Energy has chosen to build the compressor station in Union Hill, a historic, predominantly African American neighborhood. Various critical issues have been raised and remain unaddressed.

Virginia faith leaders and Virginia Interfaith Power & Light attended the Nov. 8 and 9 Air Pollution Control Board meetings to demonstrate that people of faith are concerned about the disproportionate impact this compressor station will have on the health and safety of Union Hill.

In response, Kendyl Crawford, Director of Virginia Interfaith Power & Light, released the following statement:

“Virginians of faith have taken action out of a moral responsibility to protect the most vulnerable from the negative impacts of fossil fuel infrastructure. Today, over 40 people of faith, who are also Dominion Energy customers, have turned off their lights as part of a 24-hour Power-Fast and an act of solidarity with Union Hill.

“We are thankful that the Air Pollution Control Board has decided to take additional time to consider environmental injustice, site suitability, and cumulative impacts of the entire pipeline by deferring their vote on the air permit.

“We believe that decisions about energy production are moral issues at their core, and that sacrificing our neighbors’ health and safety for a private company to profit is wrong.”