Concerned citizens of Maryland and West Virginia have put together this petition. We need your help – and we need it now! Sign the petition to Kevin Brandt, Superintendent Of C & O Canal of the National Park Service (NPS) telling NPS not to issue a Right-of-Way permit for the Potomac Pipeline/Eastern Panhandle Expansion Project, which if approved would be the energy source for the controversial Rockwool North America insulation manufacturing plant in Jefferson County, WV.
Why
Columbia Gas, a subsidiary of TransCanada, is planning on building a pipeline under the C&O Canal at Hancock Maryland and under the Potomac River. Although this project has gotten many of the required permits to do so, it has not gotten the Right of Way (ROW) Permit from the National Park Service (NPS) nor the permit for construction on Department of Natural Resources (DNR) land from the Maryland Board of Public Works. The many citizens of Maryland and West Virginia who have been working to stop the construction of the pipeline there are doing so because of the serious risks associated with the pipeline carrying fracked gas and its construction.
Risk of polluting the Potomac, the source of drinking water for 5 to 6 million people living downstream from the planned location. Agriculture and recreational businesses depend on water free of chemical pollutants
Risk of polluting thousands of private wells, the source of drinking water for many people
Risk from a blow out to the C&O Canal
Risk of destroying historical property
Risk of damaging private property
Risk of continuous threat of a natural gas explosion.
Risk of pollution from the heavy industries the pipeline would support in the Eastern Panhandle of WV
Natural Gas pipelines explode with alarming frequency in the US, killing and injuring people, and causing millions of dollars in damage. From 2010 to 2016, according to federal records, gas companies reported 35 explosions and 32 ignitions at their transmission pipelines. According to the Wall Street Journal, 4 in every 5 pipeline accidents are discovered by local residents, not the companies that own the pipelines.
