Category Archives: Maps

ABRA Unveils New Pipeline Mapping Systems


From Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance ABRA Update #270, April 2, 2020

Two new online mapping systems have been created by ABRA to assist allies who are fighting the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and other pipeline projects in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia and in North Carolina. Both systems are based on geographic information system (GIS) technology, like ABRA’s CIS mapping system for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP).

The Hampton Roads Anti-Pipeline Education Map includes the rest of the ACP route from Buckingham County to the North Carolina border and to Portsmouth, VA, plus two pipeline projects of the Virginia Gas Company, the Header Improvement Project and the Southside Connector Pipeline.

The North Carolina Pipeline Watch Mapping System (NCPWP) depicts the ACP route from the Virginia boarder south to the terminus of the project. It includes updated stream crossings and new land ownership data and is designed to assist our allies in North Carolina to better monitor any construction activity of the ACP. For more information the ACP monitoring effort in North Carolina, visit www.NCPipelineWatch.org.

To access the new mapping systems, click here.

ABRA Unveils New Pipeline Mapping Systems

From Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance’s ABRA Update #270, April 2, 2020

Two new online mapping systems have been created by ABRA to assist allies who are fighting the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and other pipeline projects in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia and in North Carolina. Both systems are based on geographic information system (GIS) technology, like ABRA’s CIS mapping system for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP).

The Hampton Roads Anti-Pipeline Education Map includes the rest of the ACP route from Buckingham County to the North Carolina border and to Portsmouth, VA, plus two pipeline projects of the Virginia Gas Company, the Header Improvement Project and the Southside Connector Pipeline.

The North Carolina Pipeline Watch Mapping System (NCPWP) depicts the ACP route from the Virginia boarder south to the terminus of the project. It includes updated stream crossings and new land ownership data and is designed to assist our allies in North Carolina to better monitor any construction activity of the ACP.

For more information the ACP monitoring effort in North Carolina, visit www.NCPipelineWatch.org.

To access the new mapping systems, click here.

Online Resources from the Pipeline CSI

The Pipeline Compliance Surveillance Initiative (CSI), a program of the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance (ABRA), has made the following online resources available to citizens who are contending with the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and other major pipelines in the central Appalachian region:

 
An online submission form is available for citizen reports concerning stream impacts and noncompliance with environmental requirements for pipeline construction. The reporting form has been developed as a collaborative effort involving multiple organizations, and it can be used for submission of reports for different pipeline projects. Form submissions will be monitored by the Pipeline CSI, Mountain Valley Watch, Trout Unlimited, and the West Virginia Rivers Coalition. Each organization will address specific pipelines and will follow its own protocol for responding to incident reports, including follow-up investigation and submission of complaints to the regulatory agencies.
 
Access to the Pipeline Incident Report form is available at pipelineupdate.org/csi-reporting/. Other reporting methods provided by ABRA, including a hotline and a dedicated email address, as well as guidance for citizen observers, are also provided. Additional information and methods for reporting are provided by the other collaborating organizations.
 
 
Multiple agencies have been involved in the review and issuance of permits and approvals for the ACP.  See pipelineupdate.org/environmental-review for access to regulatory agency websites and to environmental regulations and guidelines that apply to pipeline construction in general.  Access is also provided to ACP-specific project plans and to environmental-review and approval documents. In addition, project-specific requests for variances and exemptions, as well as inspection and enforcement documents, will be provided. 
 
 
The CSI Mapping System is an online interactive map developed to support citizen oversight of the construction phase of the ACP. The geographic extent of the mapping system includes 200 miles of the western mountainous section of the ACP. The mapping system provides the location of the ACP construction corridor and access roads, information concerning environmental risks and sensitivities, construction plans (“alignment sheets”), and water monitoring stations. The mapping system includes a layer that indicates the extent of tree felling, and thus, the extent of potential construction in the summer of 2018. The mapping system will also provide information related to CSI Incident Reports.
 
Mapping system users can can select from different base maps, determine the layers that are displayed, access information about map features, and save PDF versions of their maps. 
 
The CSI Mapping System is currently set to display locations of stream and wetlands crossing considered by the US Army Corps of Engineers prior to its issuance of the general Nationwide Permit 12. As indicated in the attached screen shot, information concerning the individual crossings, including identifiers (FeatID), can be accessed via popup windows. Although the Virginia DEQ is accepting comments on the adequacy of the NWP12 for protecting state waters in lieu of individual state review, the DEQ website that provides water body crossing information is not working. The CSI Mapping System provides access to the missing information. For more on this issue, see Calendar / Events at pipelineupdate.org/csi.
 
 
CSI Mapping System showing native brook trout streams in the Townsend Draft area of the George Washington National Forest in western Virginia. Stream crossings included in the Water Body Impact Table prepared by the US Army Corps of Engineers in its review for the Nationwide Permit 12 are indicated. The popup window includes the crossing information provided in the table. The Virginia DEQ is presently accepting comments on the adequacy of the NWP12 for protecting state water resources. An initial review indicates that the Army Corps failed to evaluate at least 81 stream crossings in the westernmost 100 miles of the ACP in Virginia.

Dominion Maps


On February 16, 2018, NBC29 reported that “Dominion Energy introduced an interactive map for people to stay updated on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline’s construction. The map shows the current route and timeline of construction project within specific regions.”

On Dominion’s map site there is a tab for each state, and then a link for each county. However, while the Dominion maps supposedly show the pipeline route and construction activity, at this point in time they do not show any detail at all: no access roads, no stream crossings, no flood plains, no supply or construction yards. In fact, as you click to enlarge, there comes a point – on the 6th click, just when you would be getting to a reasonable level of detail – where the line showing the pipeline route simply disappears from their map! So at a detailed level there is nothing to look at.

We suggest you go to our Maps page and look at the maps provided by Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition and by Friends of Nelson for detailed maps showing the things the Dominion maps currently don’t show you.

On the Dominion maps, on the sidebar of each county page there are sections for News Alerts, Construction Activity, Community Investment, and Community Resources.

Under Community Investment they say, “We believe in corporate citizenship and doing our best to enhance the communities where we live, work and play. Check back to these pages as we’ll show you during construction how we’re making that happen.” So far, we have seen no sign of good corporate citizenship or enhancing communities. Somehow, creating permanent scars on the landscape, fouling streams, clearing slide-prone slopes of vegetation, and bringing heavy truck and equipment traffic to small county roads does not seem like community enhancement.

Under Community Resource they say, “The ACP will bring substantial economic benefits to the communities across West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. We encourage you to visit these pages often to see how our contractor, SRC, is relying on your local businesses to provide supplies and services throughout the course of construction of the ACP.” We note that Dominion is no longer talking (as they were several years ago) about how the pipeline bring jobs to our communities, perhaps because the blatant untruth of that has been so well publicized. Now they are falling back on touting reliance on our “local businesses to provide supplies and services” during construction. We’ll see….