Dominion’s suit against Nelson County over the refusal of the Nelson Board of Zoning Appeals to grant a variance for the ACP to cross flood plains in the County will be heard on April 8, 2019, at 11:30 a.m. in the Federal Court in Charlottesville, 255 West Main Street. Respectful attendance at the hearing is encouraged – no signs, no t-shirts, no protesting.

Why is Dominion suing Nelson County? On December 3, 2018, on a 3-2 vote, the Nelson County Board of Zoning Appeals denied four of Dominion’s applications for the variances to the County’s flood plain ordinance needed to construct the Atlantic Coast Pipeline across flood plains in Nelson. (The other seven of the original eleven applications were dismissed in January 2018, meaning ACP will have to submit new applications for them.) The Nelson County Zoning Ordinance specifically includes “Structures or facilities that produce, use, store, or transport highly volatile, flammable, explosive, toxic, and/or water-reactive materials” in the list of “critical facilities [that] are prohibited from being constructed or operated within a SFHA [Special Floodplain Hazard Area] unless a Variance is granted.” (Article 10.15F on p. 87)

Three days after the Nelson BZA denial of variances, on December 6, 2018, Atlantic Coast Pipeline filed a lawsuit against the Nelson County Board of Supervisors in the Western District of Virginia’s federal court, and it is this suit that will be heard on April 8. The suit asks the Court to:

• enter judgement declaring that Nelson’s zoning ordinance and floodplain regulations are preempted by federal regulations and therefore null and void as applied to the ACP
• enter an injunction enjoining Nelson County from enforcing any of its zoning ordinances and floodplain regulations that may affect ACP construction

The ACP has no federal permit to cross any waterbodies, including wetlands and floodplains.

For further information on the four variances denied by the Nelson Board of Zoning Appeals see our story from 2018.

Sidenote: The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation has designated March 10-16, 2019, as Virginia Flood Awareness Week. You can read about the function and value of floodplains on their floodplain Web page.