20140957 Ver 2_Deny the ACP's WQ Certification w Comments_20170814

Strickland, Bev
From:Linda Sue Barnes <[e-mail]>
Sent:Monday, August 14, 2017 9:30 PM
To:SVC_DENR.publiccomments
Subject:Deny the ACP's Water Quality Certification

Dear North Carolina DEQ Officials,

I am writing to urge you to reject the Water Quality Certification for the disastrous Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Duke Energy
hasn't shown that the pipeline won't harm North Carolina's waters, yet the company wants to dynamite and dig deep
trenches through our creeks and wetlands, which could cause massive erosion and spell disaster for threatened wildlife.
Spills are inevitable and this puts wetlands and water sources at risk. Wetlands are very important to the overall life of
an ecosystem. They allow a slow flow of water to reduce the sediment load, serve as nurseries for countless animals,
perform bioremediation on water before it enters larger bodies of water.

The pipeline will cross more than 560 streams, rivers and wetlands in the state. It will put our waters at risk of pollution
and long-term damage. And harms to any of these waters could also contaminate drinking water and hurt fisheries and
the economy.

The current application for 401 Water Quality Certification simply doesn't include enough information about which
streams would be subject to trenching, cofferdams or in-stream blasting. Without site-specific details, it's impossible to
know what the water quality impacts would be. This is unacceptable.

The combined threat to wetlands, forests, people and wildlife -- not to mention the lack of demand for more electricity -
- is more than enough to justify the rejection of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. I urge you to exercise the state's authority
under the Clean Water Act to protect our waters and reject the pipeline's 401 permit.

Thank you.

Linda Sue Barnes

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