Solidarity: ABRA announces creation of two new online GIS's

The Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance is pleased to announce the creation of two new online mapping systems, built in solidarity with allies fighting the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in regions beyond our mountains. We in ABRA saw this long hiatus of construction as a good opportunity to assist other communities and environmental groups that share our struggle against the ACP.

Across state lines, ABRA’s Pipeline CSI program has built the new and improved North Carolina Pipeline Watch Mapping System for our southern counterpart, the North Carolina Pipeline Watch. With updated stream crossings and new land ownership data, the NCPW Mapping System makes it easier for riverkeepers and other volunteers to find monitoring locations and submit observations though NCPW’s existing reporting structure. For more information on how to get involved in ACP monitoring efforts in North Carolina, visit their website at www.NCPipelineWatch.org.

To aid the organizing efforts of communities in eastern VA, we have created the Hampton Roads Anti-Pipeline Education Map. As of late last year three large natural gas transmission projects, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the Header Improvement Project (VA Natural Gas Co), and the Southside Connector Pipeline (VA Natural Gas Co), have sought permitting approval to begin construction in southeastern Virginia and beyond.

This online GIS allows concerned community members, organizers, and activists to get familiar with the routes and potential impacts of these three related proposed projects. Zoom in to where you or your neighbors are affected by one of these pipeline projects, or click around the area of Chesapeake City where all three projects converge. Please visit the websites of Mothers Out Front Hampton Roads, Sierra Club Virginia Chapter, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, among others, for more information about the fight against pipelines nearer to Virginia’s coasts.

Check them out at our new Solidarity Maps page under our Maps, Apps, & GIS tab on the Pipeline CSI website by visiting www.abra-csi.org/solidarity.

tab on the Pipeline CSI website

New Story Map from CSI partners Trout Unlimited & WV Rivers: Pipeline Impacts on Water Quality

The Pipeline CSI is pleased to present a new story map created by the great people at CSI partner organizations WV Rivers Coalition and Trout Unlimited.

Click the image above or visit our Story Map page at abra-csi.org/storymaps to view it or our other informative maps! Read the in-depth report by TU here!

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"This report provides a snapshot of the impacts construction is having on streams and rivers - impacts that threaten critical habitat for aquatic species and clean water supplies for citizens, farms, and industry. It is critical that we learn from the impacts observed over the past year, and chart a path forward that protects these valuable resources. "

"Over the past year, West Virginia and Virginia have witnessed the beginning of a major build-out of pipeline infrastructure. Large natural gas pipelines up to 42 inches in diameter are being constructed across hundreds of miles of rugged and highly erodible terrain, crossing hundreds of rivers and streams in the process. The risks to our waters from these billion-dollar construction projects are significant. Shorthanded state regulatory agencies struggle to monitor the hundreds of miles of construction, so nonprofit organizations - including Trout Unlimited (TU) and West Virginia Rivers - are working to fill the gap. To augment agency efforts, we are training volunteers to provide citizen oversight. The volunteer reports are vetted by organization staff, then passed on to relevant agency officials and tracked to ensure resolution.

In this first year of large-scale pipeline development in the central Appalachian states, citizens and agency staff have documented numerous pollution incidents on the Mountain Valley Pipeline, the Mountaineer Express, and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline."

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ACP High Risk Terrain Virtual Tour - Story Map

Can't make it out to West Virginia to see the effects of ACP destruction thus-far? We've made a story map to communicate the scale of the situation to you as if you were there yourself.

Check out the ACP High Risk Terrain Virtual Tour Story Map here!

Visit publicly accessible construction sites in Pocahontas and Randolph counties, view photos and videos from drone and airplane fly-overs, and get up to speed on how much actual work ACP has managed to complete amid court challenges and over 2 years of delay.

You will quickly notice that despite Dominion's assurances to their shareholders, ACP is not nearly as far along in construction as they may claim, with only 21 miles out of over 600 actually buried.

The enormous scale of these slopes is truly something to behold, and we've done our best to capture it in this story map tour. But in case that isn't enough, we've even provided directions to each of the tour sites in case you just have to see these sites in person.

For a deeper dive into the details of the sites and the issues at play in this Virtual Tour, check out the presentation put together by the CSI's Rick Webb for the WV Highland Conservancy Fall Review. Click here to view the presentation or click the photo below.

We plan to do more narrative tours of ACP construction risks in the future, so please give us your feedback in the comments below or by sending an email to ben@blueridgegeographics.com or pipelineincident@gmail.com.

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