Aerial view of a gas compressor station

Community Conversation: Lambert Compressor Station – What You Need To Know

Featured Image of an existing WV compressor facility. Credit, Ted Auch, FracTracker Alliance, 2020. Support their work at https://fractracker.networkforgood.com/

UPDATE: The Air Pollution Control Board has pulled the Lambert Compressor Station permit decision from the July 7th 2021 meeting, and has announced it has been pushed to September. Stay tuned for updates and organizing around this permit decision!

Tuesday, June 29, 2021 7:30 PM –  9:00 PM ET – Pittsylvania County Branch NAACP – Community Conversations: Lambert Compressor Station, What You Need to Know (Recording available here)

Thursday, July 1, 2021 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM ET – Appalachian Voices, CCAN and Sierra Club’s Air Board Hearing Prep Meeting – if you are able, sign up to cede your minutes to an expert here if you commented during the public comment period!

Two Quick Actions:

Tell The Air Pollution Control Board: No Toxic Compressor Station

Tell the Air Board: Deny MVP AIR PERMIT!

If you missed the webinar with the Pittsylvania NAACP branch, and other community leaders and experts to discuss the proposed Pittsylvania Lambert Compressor Station, the recording is forthcoming. We learned about potential impacts to our communities, and what you can do to help to safeguard against further threats to our health, property value and quality of life. We also learned details regarding the upcoming DEQ Public Hearing which is July 7th, 2021.

MVP Southgate is planned as an extension of MVP Mainline.

  • MVP Mainline is unfinished, over budget, and involved in serious lawsuits.
  • The MVP Mainline route is 303 miles long, starts in northern West Virginia, and ends at the Transco Compressor Stations 165 & 166 in Pittsylvania County.
  • If MVP Mainline is completed, Transco will pump the gas north, south, and east through Transco’s pipelines.

MVP Southgate duplicates gas delivery that is already available through Transco.

  • The MVP Southgate route is 75 miles long, starts just before Transco Compressor Stations 165 & 166, runs south into North Carolina, and ends in Alamance County at a Dominion Energy distribution point.
  • MVP wants the proposed Lambert Compressor Station to pump gas through its Southgate pipeline rather than letting Transco pump the gas through its existing pipelines.

MVP Southgate is not under construction.

  • The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) only conditionally approved MVP Southgate in June 2020.
  • MVP cannot begin construction on MVP Southgate, including the Lambert Compressor Station, unless:
    • MVP obtains essential federal permits for the MVP Mainline.
    • MVP receives permission to fully restart all construction on MVP Mainline halted due to poor performance and numerous lawsuits.
    • MVP obtains a water quality permit from North Carolina.
    • MVP obtains an air quality permit from Virginia for the Lambert Compressor Station.

MVP Southgate has no use without MVP Mainline.

MVP Mainline may never be completed.

  • MVP Mainline is over budget: MVP has raised its $3.5 BILLION estimate to $6.2 BILLION.
  • MVP Mainline is behind schedule: MVP has pushed its 2018 completion date to 2022.
  • MVP Mainline was fined $2.7 MILLION for more than 350 violations of environmental regulations in 2018 and 2019 before construction was halted,

Lambert Compressor Station has no use without MVP Southgate.

MVP Southgate cannot be built without a North Carolina water quality permit.

  • North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality has twice denied MVP’s request for a water quality permit for MVP Southgate, pointing to the uncertainty of the MVP Mainline project being completed.

Tell the Air Board: NO NEED TO RUSH FLAWED MVP AIR PERMIT

MVP has applied for a Virginia air quality permit for the Lambert Compressor Station.

  • Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has referred the permit to the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board (the Air Board).
  • The Air Board will meet in Richmond on July 7, 2021, to grant or deny MVP’s air permit.

DEQ and MVP have neglected to adequately address environmental justice concerns.

  • DEQ and MVP have failed to recognize that locating the Lambert Compressor Station next to two Transco compressor stations means that communities impacted by poorly regulated Transco emissions for decades will be subjected to yet another pollution source.
  • DEQ and MVP have failed to determine whether granting the permit will protect Pittsylvania County residents – in particular, communities of color and low-income communities – from harmful health effects.

Featured Image Credit, Ted Auch, FracTracker Alliance, 2020. Support their work at https://fractracker.networkforgood.com/