In August, a company representative was quoted in the Highland Recorder as saying: “Spectra Energy is suspending its development work on the proposed [project]…We will continue to evaluate opportunities in the region which could include the study corridor in yourarea, and should there be developments, we will keep you informed.”
While this announcement doesn’t mean Spectra is gone for good, it is definitely a positive sign for citizens in our region. We believe that the communities’ vigorous responses to the proposal influenced Spectra’s decision to re-evaluate.
Immediately after learning about the project, PEC sent letters to landowners along the route and organized community meetings. This helped generate letters from potentially affected landowners, as well as communications from interested parties like the Department of Interior, Montpelier and the Virginia Outdoors Foundation.
We know that Spectra is still interested in building a pipeline through Virginia. The Spectra representative said one option they are considering is partnering with Dominion on its Atlantic Coast Pipeline (formerly known as the Dominion Southeast Reliability Project)—a project we will be responding to with our partners to the south and west.
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This article was featured in our Fall 2014 Member Newsletter, The Piedmont View.