RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Atlantic Coast
Pipeline, LLC, (Atlantic) today submitted additional information to
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the 564-mile
interstate natural gas transmission pipeline designed to meet the
need for cleaner electricity generation, satisfy the growing demand
for natural gas to heat homes and businesses, and promote consumer
savings and economic growth.
The Supplemental Filing provides route alternatives, variations
and adjustments developed since Atlantic submitted its formal
application on Sept. 18, to minimize
impacts of the proposed route on several environmental, historic
and public land issues.
"We believe these route adjustments meet the project's critical
need of supplying clean, inexpensive energy to public utility
customers while protecting the environmental and cultural resources
of communities along the route," said Diane
Leopold, president of Dominion Energy, which is responsible
for routing, building and operating the Atlantic Coast Pipeline,
pending FERC approval. "While the route adjustments themselves are
minor, they reflect Atlantic's strong and sincere commitment to
listening to project stakeholders at every stage and addressing
their concerns to improve the proposed route."
The adjustments include:
- The Cheat Mountain Route Variation: This would reduce potential
impacts on Cheat Mountain salamander occupied habitat in the
Monongahela National Forest in Randolph
County, West Virginia;
- The Cow Knob Route Variation: Proposed at the request of the
U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Atlantic would use horizontal
directional drill (HDD) construction to avoid potential impacts on
Cow Knob salamanders and their habitat in the George Washington
National Forest on and in the vicinity of Shenandoah Mountain in Highland and Augusta counties, Virginia;
- The Warminster/Swift Island Route Variation: Atlantic would
avoid impacts within a wetland mitigation site and potential
impacts on the newly identified, proposed Warminster Rural Historic
District, both along the James River in Nelson and Buckingham counties, Virginia;
- The Great Dismal Swamp Major Route Alternative: Proposed at the
request of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Atlantic has further
developed and is proposing an alternative route identified in the
September filing to avoid crossing the Great Dismal Swamp National
Wildlife Refuge. Atlantic would use HDD construction to cross under
the Western Branch Reservoir as part of this alternative. The route
would also avoid the Sunray Historic District.
Additionally, today's filing provides an update on the status of
the environmental field surveys Atlantic has conducted along the
proposed route, as well as the anticipated filing dates for survey
reports. These include updates on archaeological field surveys and
surveys for rare, threatened and endangered species.
The FERC is being asked to certify the public benefit and
necessity of the project. The FERC and a number of cooperating
agencies will examine fully a broad number of issues, including
public safety, air quality, water resources, geology, soils,
wildlife and vegetation, threatened and endangered species, land
and visual resources, cultural and historic resources, noise,
cumulative impacts and reasonable alternatives. The FERC staff is
preparing a draft Environmental Impact Statement on the
project.
About the Atlantic Coast Pipeline
Dominion (NYSE: D),
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), Piedmont Natural Gas (NYSE: PNY) and AGL
Resources (NYSE: GAS) formed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC, to build
and own the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The pipeline would
transport abundant natural gas supplies from Harrison County, W.Va., southeast through
Virginia with an extension to
Chesapeake, Va., and south through
central North Carolina to
Robeson County. Pending regulatory
approval, construction is expected to begin in the second half of
2016 and the pipeline is expected to be in service in the fourth
quarter of 2018.
About Dominion
Dominion is one of the nation's largest
producers and transporters of energy, with a portfolio of
approximately 24,400 megawatts of generation, 12,200 miles of
natural gas transmission, gathering and storage pipeline, and 6,490
miles of electric transmission lines. Dominion operates one
of the nation's largest natural gas storage systems with 928
billion cubic feet of storage capacity and serves utility and
retail energy customers in 14 states. For more information about
Dominion, visit the company's website at www.dom.com.
About Duke Energy
Duke Energy is the largest electric
power holding company in the United
States. Its regulated utility operations serve approximately
7.3 million electric customers located in six states in the
Southeast and Midwest. Its commercial power and international
energy business segments own and operate diverse power generation
assets in North America and
Latin America, including a growing
portfolio of renewable energy assets in the United States.
Headquartered in Charlotte,
N.C., Duke Energy is a Fortune 250 company traded on the New
York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about
the company is available at duke-energy.com.
Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
About Piedmont Natural Gas
Piedmont Natural Gas is an
energy services company primarily engaged in the distribution of
natural gas to more than one million residential, commercial,
industrial and power generation utility customers in portions of
North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, including customers served by
municipalities who are wholesale customers. Our subsidiaries are
invested in joint venture, energy-related businesses, including
unregulated retail natural gas marketing, and regulated interstate
natural gas transportation and storage, and regulated intrastate
natural gas transportation businesses. More information about
Piedmont Natural Gas is available on the Internet at
http://www.piedmontng.com/.
About AGL Resources
AGL Resources (NYSE: GAS) is an
Atlanta-based energy services
holding company with operations in natural gas distribution, retail
operations, wholesale services and midstream operations. AGL
Resources serves approximately 4.5 million utility customers
through its regulated distribution subsidiaries in seven states.
The company also serves more than one million retail customers
through its SouthStar Energy Services joint venture and Pivotal
Home Solutions, which market natural gas and related home services.
Other non-utility businesses include asset management for natural
gas wholesale customers through Sequent Energy Management and
ownership and operation of natural gas storage facilities. AGL
Resources is a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500
Index. For more information, visit www.aglresources.com.
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/atlantic-coast-pipeline-submits-route-changes-to-avoid-environmental-impacts-address-stakeholder-concerns-300169699.html
SOURCE Dominion Resources