Great news in Maryland! You may recall last year our celebration of a victory over Dominion’s attempt to construct a fracked gas compressor station in Charles County (“Dominion’s Carpetbagging Profiteering Has No Place Here” and also this Washington Post story).
Accokeek Mattawoman Piscataway Creeks Communities Council (AMP Creeks Council) led the fight against the compressor project in Charles County, and Earthjustice bottom-lined the legal fight against the proposal, which would have threatened local residents and impacted the viewshed of George Washington's home in Mount Vernon, VA. Sierra Club stepped up in several areas, driving online actions and sending in technical comments naming the problems endemic to the project.
Well, finally and officially, Dominion filed notice of its intent to walk away from the project with FERC.
What’s so exciting about this victory is that it’s not just a story about the defeat of the fracked gas compressor station, but also signals that the proposed 990-MW Mattawoman fracked-gas power plant is in deep trouble. The FERC filing notes that “Dominion and Mattawoman have agreed that Mattawoman will no longer be a Project Customer.”
Mattawoman has repeatedly failed to clear in PJM’s capacity auction, typically a necessary step for financing and construction as a merchant plant. Not to mention that there was significant local opposition to the proposal of yet another fossil fuel facility in the community of Southern Prince George’s County, which is already home to a coal-fired power plant, other fracked gas power plants, and a coal ash disposal facility. The additional pollution from this facility would be so egregious, and such a pile on to a community already dealing with environmental justice issues that in 2016, Earthjustice filed a Title VI Civil Rights claim on behalf of local residents, including leaders from Patuxent Riverkeeper, and Brandywine BTB Coalition..
This integrated Chapter/campaign victory is not a one off thing. Earlier this month, our Chapter Beyond Gas Steering Committee worked with Chapter and Beyond Coal campaign staff to submit to the Maryland Public Service Commission over 1,000 comments, with hundreds of personal messages, in opposition to a proposed repowering of a retired coal plant as a fracked gas peaking facility. A number of our legislative champions crafted a letter in opposition as well.
Look for more from us soon.
Onwards,
Patrick Grenter
Senior Campaign Representative
Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia
Beyond Coal Campaign
Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign