Alter Va. route of natural-gas pipeline is goal of campaign

Associated Press

RICHMOND, VA.

Opponents of the proposed Virginia route of a 550-mile natural gas pipeline from West Virginia to North Carolina have launched a campaign to enlist more allies in their fight.

The “All Pain, No Gain Campaign” delivered that message Sunday in paid media spots in central and western Virginia markets.

The campaign contends that everyone in Virginia and even Washington, D.C., has a stake in the ultimate path of the 42-inch Atlantic Coast Pipeline because it would carve up private property and scenic vistas and threaten water supplies.

The campaign wants the pipeline shifted to existing rights of way.

Dominion Resources is partnering with other utilities to build the $5 billion pipeline, which would cross the Blue Ridge Mountains to deliver gas from Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia to the Southeast.

In a statement issued Sunday, Dominion said it does consider rights of way for the pipeline where it can and the new campaign was using “scare tactics and misinformation.”

“Once built, it will be virtually invisible, the same as the 3,000 miles of natural-gas pipelines already in the commonwealth,” Dominion said of the proposed pipeline.

A key element in the opponents’ argument is the potential for contamination of headwaters for rivers that supply public drinking water to millions.

Dominion said localities with natural-gas pipelines would reap tax benefits.