Northam removes 2 members from air board before Buckingham project vote

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Props to @MercuryVirginia for being quick on the draw on this. They've got more details here

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With compressor station decision pending, Northam replaces two members of state air board

By Mechelle Hankerson -- November 15, 2018

Gov. Ralph Northam will replace two members of the State Air Pollution Control Board and at least one member of the State Water Control Board more than four months after their terms ended.

Notably, the decision to replace the two members of the air board — Rebecca Rubin and Samuel Bleicher, whose terms ended in June — comes a week after the board delayed a vote on a permit for a contentious pipeline compressor station for Dominion Energy’s Atlantic Coast Pipeline. ... The board was scheduled to take up the permit again next month.

Both boards have wrestled with key permits for the controversial Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The water board also wrangled with a permit for the separate Mountain Valley Pipeline, which is being developed by EQT Midstream Partners of Pittsburgh.
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The 54,000 horsepower compressor station and the array of emissions that come with it is planned for Union Hill, a largely African-American corner of rural Buckingham County, and it has become one of the most heated environmental justice issues in Virginia.
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Northam removes 2 members from air board before Buckingham project vote

By PATRICK WILSON Richmond Times-Dispatch 18 hrs ago

Gov. Ralph Northam is removing two members from the State Air Pollution Control Board, a move that comes less than a week after they raised concerns about a natural gas compressor station planned for a historic black community in Buckingham County and ahead of the board’s vote on the project.

Seven environmental groups, including the Southern Environmental Law Center and Sierra Club Virginia chapter, slammed Northam’s decision. On Nov. 9, the board opted to wait a month to decide on whether to approve a permit for a natural gas compressor station to serve the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Some board members and members of the Union Hill community in Buckingham County are concerned about the environmental impact on the community.

Northam on Thursday informed Rebecca Rubin and Samuel Bleicher that they would be removed from the seven-member board. A news release from the environmental groups noted that both Rubin and Bleicher had raised concerns at last week’s meeting about environmental justice and pollution from the compressor station. ... Their terms expired in June, but they were to remain on the board until they either resigned or the governor removed them.

The air board will meet again Dec. 10 to deliberate and vote on a permit for the compressor station.
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Twitter: @patrickmwilson

[underpants]

1. Damn Gov. Bad move.

[Power 2 the People]

2. And some wonder why our new legislators are pushing aggressively for action on climate

A news release from the environmental groups noted that both Rubin and Bleicher had raised concerns at last week’s meeting about environmental justice and pollution from the compressor station.