20140957 Ver 2_ACP comments on negative public interest_20170718

Strickland, Bev
From:[e-mail]
Sent:Tuesday, July 18, 2017 7:26 AM
To:SVC_DENR.publiccomments
Subject:ACP comments on negative public interest
As a responsible citizen and mother, I oppose cutting a pipeline for gas or other fossil fuel when cheap, clean energy is
available as solar and wind, tidal and geothermal.

Construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline would dig up, cut through, or clear cut more acres of wetlands than the state
of North Carolina permits for the entire state in a year. The draft permit requires no monitoring or reporting to ensure
that wetlands actually remain wetlands. There is no mitigation plan for offsetting the so-called “temporary” loss of
forested wetlands for the next 30 years.

As of July 11, DEQ reports they have not received a complete Sedimentation and Erosion Plan, so the ability to protect
downstream water quality can’t be evaluated in the absence of a plan to ensure diffuse flow over disturbed buffer areas.

The only ones benefiting from such construction are oil and gas interests and heavy equipment manufacturers. There is
not adequate consideration of the range of factors that can cause uncontrolled release of drilling fluids (referred to as
“inadvertent return”) similar to what happened dramatically on the Rover Pipeline project this year, causing FERC to
partly halt work.
No project with the potential for violations of water quality standards on a short- or long-term basis can be approved by
the Div. of Water Resources.

The ACP 401 application and construction detail fail to acknowledge the likely impacts of construction and pipeline
operation on local groundwater or to ensure measures will be taken to prevent them. The project could decrease
groundwater recharge, thus decreasing the groundwater discharge to streams and wetlands, as well, thus decreasing
stream baseflow and ability to maintain the water level in wetlands during dry periods.

The push toward polluting disruption of the environment will be resisted by all responsible parents and scientists.
Please abandon this pipeline and turn attention to renewable energy.

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