On March 28th, Beyond Gas Committee Co-Chair Jill Clark-Gollub attended a MDE hearing on a proposed Charles County Compressor Station. Jill wrote this blog on the hearing and directions how to submit comments on the project.
About 150 people showed up at the Bryans Road, Maryland fire station last night for a hearing of the Maryland Department of the Environment on air quality at the proposed Charles County Compressor station. The MDE representative said that 70 people had signed up to give testimony. By the time I left at 9:20, 45 people had spoken: 5 in favor of Dominion Energy’s project and 40 against.
The 5 pro-gas speakers gave brief remarks, repeating Dominion’s apparent catch phrase of the day: “Best in Class.” The dozens of speakers against the compressor station demonstrated a depth of knowledge and sophisticated understanding of the risks posed by the project. Several speakers were residents of Moyaone Reserve, the community surrounding the proposed construction site, who were outraged that their bucolic neighborhood which enjoys conservation easements, and Piscataway National Park, could become industrial wastelands if a large, polluting compressor station is allowed to be built there. They expressed fears that their children would not be able to play outside due to the frequent blowdowns by the station, and find their indoor air contaminated as well. People excoriated MDE for allowing the application to omit these high-polluting incidents which are planned to occur over 100 times per year and would force people with health issues to leave their homes. A college student and a high school student were among those who criticized the plant for having a smokestack 63 feet below EPA standards—in fact below the treeline—which will allow pollution to get trapped in this geographical depression. The speakers against the project included physicists, doctors, farmers, two air quality experts, the Audubon Society, outdoor educators, a former park ranger, teachers, etc. They were united in criticism that Dominion had provided inadequate and misleading information, and demanded that MDE do its job by using real science and accurate information to protect Marylanders. Several of them insisted that a full and independent Health Impact Assessment be done on the project.
Some insightful information was provided by the attorneys who testified. They noted that the Charles County Board of Appeals had recently rejected this project because it has no plans to protect public safety in the event of an explosion or fire. Larry Silverman explained that under the law of pre-emption there are three lawful rulemakers in this matter: Charles County (zoning), Maryland (MDE—environmental concerns), and the federal government (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission—FERC). While these three jurisdictions may have differing opinions, the Clean Air Act which MDE is bound to uphold trumps everything else. When MDE issued a statement shortly after the Charles County Board’s decision indicating that MDE “will be reviewing the factual and legal basis for the Charles County Board of Appeals’ decision to deny the zoning special exception to determine whether there are issues of federal preemption or other legal concerns,” it clearly overstepped its bounds. MDE must, by law, examine concerns under the Clean Air Act. Although FERC may challenge the ruling of the local zoning authority, it is clearly not MDE’s place to do so. MDE is legally bound to uphold Maryland law and respect the decisions of zoning bodies. It is up to the courts to resolve any disagreements between the different jurisdictions.
This behavior by MDE comes as no surprise to Gas Team supporters who have seen the agency’s feckless deference to TransCanada during its inadequate review of the Potomac Pipeline.
Please submit your comments to MDE on this matter before June 12, 2018. Submissions can be sent to Shannon.heafey@maryland.gov or to
Shannon Heafey, Administrator II
Air Quality Permits Program
1800 Washington Boulevard, Suite 720
Baltimore, MD 21230-1720
Whether you live in the surrounding community or not, ALL Marylanders should demand that MDE do its job to uphold environmental law and protect our health!
Below is the testimony that I offered on this occasion:
“My name is Jill Clark-Gollub and I volunteer with a Maryland Sierra Club committee that looks at natural gas infrastructure. I am speaking in my own capacity.
I ask MDE to consider your mission “To protect and restore the environment for the well-being of all Marylanders” as you hear our fellow Marylanders testify about all the negative health impacts that would be inflicted on our Charles and Prince George’s County neighbors by this proposed compressor station.
As you consider all of these damaging health impacts, please think of what the community has to gain from this compressor station: little to NOTHING. I say this because Dominion has failed to provide credible evidence that the station serves any local—or even any Maryland—need. The main purpose of this project is to allow Dominion Energy to pump gas to its export facility at Cove Point, to export its product overseas and maximize its profits. This is not a necessary evil for the common good. It is an unnecessary evil for private profit.
I would like to remind you that there is nothing forward-looking about natural gas infrastructure. Although Secretary Grumbles recently stated to the media that natural gas is a “bridge fuel,” that is very, very far from an accurate statement. It is time to use 21st century science to understand this: according to the EPA, natural gas—methane—has 86 times the Global Warming Potential that Carbon Dioxide has in the first 20 years after combustion. All Marylanders must understand this! And when you consider all of the chemical emissions in the entire fracked gas production cycle which harm human health, you see that we should be moving away from gas as quickly as we can. Dominion talks about using the latest technology. Well the latest technology is available in the form of clean renewables, such as wind and solar! These have become more affordable and Maryland’s environmental community has a proposal to move our economy toward that clean energy future.
I urge you representatives of MDE to honor your mission and protect our health and environment by very carefully scrutinizing applications for projects that could harm public health, by not allowing public harms for private gain, and by showing leadership regarding our clean energy future.
I urge you to reject this application.”