Major victory in VA: State permit vacated for Union Hill compressor

Folks in Virginia are celebrating a major win today after the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a state permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline compressor station in Union Hill. Union Hill, a predominantly black community, has been fighting for years to get the Governor and state administration to address serious concerns related to the compressor station proposal. The Governor ignored environmental justice concerns over the compressor station, but the Fourth Circuit did not follow suit, stating in their decision that the state “failed in its statutory duty to determine the character and degree of injury to the health of Union Hill residents” (source: BlueVirginia.us). This is big. We congratulate folks in VA for their incredible victory!

More info on this victory:

Fourth Circuit of Appeals Decision (link)

Food & Water Watch - Revocation of Virginia Union Hill Compressor Station Permit A Major Victory in Fight to Protect Communities from Atlantic Coast Pipeline (link)

Implications in Weymouth?

We know that all of these pipeline and compressor station fights are connected. The industry tries to segment the projects, but were all fighting the same beast. The Federal Court vacated the permit for the Union Hill compressor due to concerns related to Environmental Justice communities. In our fight to stop the Weymouth compressor station, we have been trying to raise the issue of the impact on local EJ communities, Quincy Point and Germantown. Mayor Hedlund posted the following statement on Facebook in response to today’s court decision in VA:

“We just received news today of a Federal court decision regarding permitting of a compressor station in Virginia. I have asked our outside counsel Miyares & Harrington, who have been working with the Town on the compressor station issue for many years, to review this decision.

Our attorneys will be able to help us determine whether today's decision in Virginia will help in our fight here. For example, does the decision rely more on Virginia law, which may not help us, or rely on Federal law, which may. The Virginia decision, upon initial review, appears to weigh and rely more heavily on Virginia state law.

One of the 24 different lawsuits and appeals the Town filed or defended during the last few years is a similar appeal of an air quality permit. We also raised similar issues.

Our appeal is before the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals and we await a hearing. Our brief that we filed in October is below.” (Read his statement and the brief here)