VWC Newsletter - October 1995
Your Response Needed:
Thornwood Gas Pipeline Environmental Assessment is Out!
by Ernie Dickerman
After several delays the Monongahela (West Virginia) and the George Washington (Virginia) National Forests have jointly issued for public comment an Environmental Assessment dealing with the Thornwood Gas Inc. proposed pipeline. This 34-mile long pipeline (see map) would connect an existing commercial pipeline to six existing capped natural gas wells on the Monongahela Forest drilled in the mid-1960's, but which have never commercially produced for lack of a pipeline to carry the gas to market. While all the wells are in West Virginia, some 4 or 5 miles of the pipeline would be buried along the Virginia-West Virginia state line (along Forest Road 106) and adjacent to the boundary but outside of the 10,000 acre Laurel Fork Special Management Area in Virginia. Strong objection has been raised to the proposed pipeline both by West Virginians and Virginians because of the immediate and potential damage to the values of a 42,000 acre part of the Monongahela Forest and because of the threat the adjacent pipeline would pose to the wild, natural character of the Laurel Fork area.
The purpose of this newsletter is to encourage you to respond to the Environmental Assessment, expressing your objections to building the proposed pipeline. The EA as issued would grant the permit to Thornwood Gas to build the pipeline. Sufficient opposition could persuade the two national forests to change their minds and instead deny the permit, thereby fully keeping the multiple use benefits of this 42,000 acres of the Monongahela Forest and removing the threat to severely damaging the extraordinary natural character of the Laurel Fork area on the George Washington National Forest.
Building the proposed pipeline to connect the 6 capped gas wells to an existing commercial pipeline (mostly lying on private land) involves digging 34 miles of ditch in which to bury the pipeline and clearing a 30-40 foot wide strip through the forest where the route does not follow any forest road. These ground disturbing activities can result in siltation of some streams, gas and poisonous liquids escaping from producing wells, and frequent motor vehicle traffic to monitor the wells and the pipeline. All of this will disturb wildlife by deteriorating its habitat, damage the present sense of solitude, quiet and naturalness sought by recreationists, and pollute air and streams as just noted.
Worse, the Forest Service expects that if the pipeline is built, more gas wells will be drilled, probably as many as 60 more (including dry holes), with an average of one per square mile (including the existing 6 wells). This means more miles of road built, more 30-40 foot wide strips cleared through the forest, more digging for laying of pipe, more motor vehicle travel to monitor the additional pipeline and producing wells. The total effect will be to change this 42,000 acres of first class, multiple use national forest to mainly a gas field. Plenty of opportunities to obtain gas elsewhere in West Virginia exist without developing the Monongahela Forest with its variety of rare and valuable public benefits.
Now about the 10,000 acre Laurel Fork area on the George Washington National Forest in Highland County, Virginia, which is threatened by the proposed gas pipeline lying next to its western boundary, just below the crest of Alleghany Mountain. No wells have ever been drilled in Laurel Fork, though five gas leases covering more than 90% of its area are outstanding. Four of these leases expire in 1996 or 1997; the fifth one has no expiration date. The threat to Laurel Fork lies in the fact that with Thornwood Gas expected to spend four million dollars and maybe more in building the pipeline and with 4 or 5 miles of it lying buried next to Laurel Fork, sooner or later Thornwood Gas will want to drill gas wells in Laurel Fork and tie them to this pipeline. All the bad, objectionable things described above for the Monongahela Forest would then happen to Laurel Fork, and Laurel Fork would lose its extraordinary wild, natural character which all those who know Laurel Fork prize so highly.
The citizens' goal for Laurel Fork has long been to give it protection of the Wilderness Act, to keep it like it is; but that goal has not been gained yet. The proposed pipeline is the kind of menace we have long thought would some day arise. Now we are face to face with it! You can help kill this damaging menace by replying to the Environmental Assessment, expressing your feelings and objecting to building the proposed pipeline or, if possible, select a route that would cause substantially less environmental damage. If you replied to the Forest Service' Scoping Notice issued in January, 1994, the Monongahela Forest will automatically send you a copy of the EA - more than 100 pages long. If you don't have a copy, the intent of this newsletter is to give you enough information so that you can intelligently write a brief response objecting to the proposed pipeline.
SPECIAL NOTICE: The Forest Service is allowing only 30 days in which to reply to the EA. PLEASE RESPOND BEFORE NOV. 15, 1995 SO THAT YOUR OPINION WILL COUNT. Thank you!
Legislation Threatens Shenandoah National Park
by Lynn Cameron
These are hard times for Shenandoah National Park. The park has been suffering from air pollution, acid rain, worsening visibility, overuse, encroaching development and inadequate funding. Now, to make things worse, House Bill 1091, which would shrink-wrap Shenandoah National Park, passed the House by a vote of 377-31 on September 19. This bill, introduced by Rep. Bliley and cosponsored by Mr. Wolf and Mr. Goodlatte, is primarily a bill to add Civil War Battlefield sites to the National Park System, but it also proposes to freeze Shenandoah National Park at its current boundaries. It prohibits the Park from accepting donations of land or making even minor land exchanges without going through Congress - a difficult and cumbersome process at best.Within the past 4 years, the Park began a Related Lands Study to gather information on resources within the 521,000-acre authorized boundary to help determine whether any land bordering the Park would be suitable to accept in the form of donations. Once this study was completed, the Park planned to reduce the size of the authorized boundary based on the biological, cultural, geological, and recreational information gathered. Rep. Bliley and others have been eager to calm the fears of a vocal minority of landowners who believe the Park will condemn and take their land. In fact, the Park cannot purchase or condemn land, and this legislation is totally unnecessary. If this bill becomes law, the Related Lands Study will be abandoned, and no further information will be gathered, robbing the park administration of the opportunity to make intelligent decisions about boundary adjustments.
Those of us who use the Park for hiking, camping, and horseback riding can already see access to some of our favorite trailheads being cut off. There are a number of individuals and organizations who might like to purchase land and give it to the Park to protect special resources or to keep trailheads open. Landowners should have the right to do this if they desire. If the boundary of Shenandoah National Park can be frozen by legislation without the benefit of scientific information, a bad precedent will be set. Similar legislation could be introduced for other national parks.
Our only hope of stopping this legislation is to write Senators Warner and Robb and ask them not to introduce a bill that would freeze the Park boundary. So far, there is no Senate bill that includes such a provision, but Senator Warner is being lobbied intensely by proponents of the House bill to introduce a complementary bill. Please take 5 minutes to call or write Senator John Warner ((202)224-2023) and Senator Charles Robb((202)224-2024): U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510 with this simple message:
Please do not introduce any legislation that will freeze the boundary of Shenandoah National Park. The Related Lands Study should be completed. When it is finished, appropriate boundaries based on complete information can be determined.
Thanks for doing all you can to protect the Park!
Membership
Membership in the VWC is open to anyone who believes in the need for preservation of wilderness. To join, send a copy of a recent letter supporting wilderness written to a public official, OR send $5.00 or more per year to the VWC Treasurer, address below. Thank you.The date opposite your name on the mailing label indicates when (month & year) you last made a contribution to VWC. Please check it and if the date is more than one year old, a new contribution from you will be warmly welcomed.
Officers
PRESIDENT Lynn Cameron 95 Hope St., Harrisonburg, VA 22801 (703) 434-1318
VICE PRES Dan French 107 Merry Acres Dr., Madison Heights, VA 24572 (703) 845-1605
TREASURER Julie Simpson P.O. 11 E Monmouth, Winchester, VA 22601 (703) 662-7043
SECRETARY Charles Pierce 211 Evening Lane, Winchester, VA 22603 (703) 667-3184
Thornwood Gas Pipeline Environmental Assessment is Out!
by Ernie Dickerman
After several delays the Monongahela (West Virginia) and the George Washington (Virginia) National Forests have jointly issued for public comment an Environmental Assessment dealing with the Thornwood Gas Inc. proposed pipeline. This 34-mile long pipeline (see map) would connect an existing commercial pipeline to six existing capped natural gas wells on the Monongahela Forest drilled in the mid-1960's, but which have never commercially produced for lack of a pipeline to carry the gas to market. While all the wells are in West Virginia, some 4 or 5 miles of the pipeline would be buried along the Virginia-West Virginia state line (along Forest Road 106) and adjacent to the boundary but outside of the 10,000 acre Laurel Fork Special Management Area in Virginia. Strong objection has been raised to the proposed pipeline both by West Virginians and Virginians because of the immediate and potential damage to the values of a 42,000 acre part of the Monongahela Forest and because of the threat the adjacent pipeline would pose to the wild, natural character of the Laurel Fork area.
The purpose of this newsletter is to encourage you to respond to the Environmental Assessment, expressing your objections to building the proposed pipeline. The EA as issued would grant the permit to Thornwood Gas to build the pipeline. Sufficient opposition could persuade the two national forests to change their minds and instead deny the permit, thereby fully keeping the multiple use benefits of this 42,000 acres of the Monongahela Forest and removing the threat to severely damaging the extraordinary natural character of the Laurel Fork area on the George Washington National Forest.
Building the proposed pipeline to connect the 6 capped gas wells to an existing commercial pipeline (mostly lying on private land) involves digging 34 miles of ditch in which to bury the pipeline and clearing a 30-40 foot wide strip through the forest where the route does not follow any forest road. These ground disturbing activities can result in siltation of some streams, gas and poisonous liquids escaping from producing wells, and frequent motor vehicle traffic to monitor the wells and the pipeline. All of this will disturb wildlife by deteriorating its habitat, damage the present sense of solitude, quiet and naturalness sought by recreationists, and pollute air and streams as just noted.
Worse, the Forest Service expects that if the pipeline is built, more gas wells will be drilled, probably as many as 60 more (including dry holes), with an average of one per square mile (including the existing 6 wells). This means more miles of road built, more 30-40 foot wide strips cleared through the forest, more digging for laying of pipe, more motor vehicle travel to monitor the additional pipeline and producing wells. The total effect will be to change this 42,000 acres of first class, multiple use national forest to mainly a gas field. Plenty of opportunities to obtain gas elsewhere in West Virginia exist without developing the Monongahela Forest with its variety of rare and valuable public benefits.
Now about the 10,000 acre Laurel Fork area on the George Washington National Forest in Highland County, Virginia, which is threatened by the proposed gas pipeline lying next to its western boundary, just below the crest of Alleghany Mountain. No wells have ever been drilled in Laurel Fork, though five gas leases covering more than 90% of its area are outstanding. Four of these leases expire in 1996 or 1997; the fifth one has no expiration date. The threat to Laurel Fork lies in the fact that with Thornwood Gas expected to spend four million dollars and maybe more in building the pipeline and with 4 or 5 miles of it lying buried next to Laurel Fork, sooner or later Thornwood Gas will want to drill gas wells in Laurel Fork and tie them to this pipeline. All the bad, objectionable things described above for the Monongahela Forest would then happen to Laurel Fork, and Laurel Fork would lose its extraordinary wild, natural character which all those who know Laurel Fork prize so highly.
The citizens' goal for Laurel Fork has long been to give it protection of the Wilderness Act, to keep it like it is; but that goal has not been gained yet. The proposed pipeline is the kind of menace we have long thought would some day arise. Now we are face to face with it! You can help kill this damaging menace by replying to the Environmental Assessment, expressing your feelings and objecting to building the proposed pipeline or, if possible, select a route that would cause substantially less environmental damage. If you replied to the Forest Service' Scoping Notice issued in January, 1994, the Monongahela Forest will automatically send you a copy of the EA - more than 100 pages long. If you don't have a copy, the intent of this newsletter is to give you enough information so that you can intelligently write a brief response objecting to the proposed pipeline.
SPECIAL NOTICE: The Forest Service is allowing only 30 days in which to reply to the EA. PLEASE RESPOND BEFORE NOV. 15, 1995 SO THAT YOUR OPINION WILL COUNT. Thank you!
Legislation Threatens Shenandoah National Park
by Lynn Cameron
These are hard times for Shenandoah National Park. The park has been suffering from air pollution, acid rain, worsening visibility, overuse, encroaching development and inadequate funding. Now, to make things worse, House Bill 1091, which would shrink-wrap Shenandoah National Park, passed the House by a vote of 377-31 on September 19. This bill, introduced by Rep. Bliley and cosponsored by Mr. Wolf and Mr. Goodlatte, is primarily a bill to add Civil War Battlefield sites to the National Park System, but it also proposes to freeze Shenandoah National Park at its current boundaries. It prohibits the Park from accepting donations of land or making even minor land exchanges without going through Congress - a difficult and cumbersome process at best.Within the past 4 years, the Park began a Related Lands Study to gather information on resources within the 521,000-acre authorized boundary to help determine whether any land bordering the Park would be suitable to accept in the form of donations. Once this study was completed, the Park planned to reduce the size of the authorized boundary based on the biological, cultural, geological, and recreational information gathered. Rep. Bliley and others have been eager to calm the fears of a vocal minority of landowners who believe the Park will condemn and take their land. In fact, the Park cannot purchase or condemn land, and this legislation is totally unnecessary. If this bill becomes law, the Related Lands Study will be abandoned, and no further information will be gathered, robbing the park administration of the opportunity to make intelligent decisions about boundary adjustments.
Those of us who use the Park for hiking, camping, and horseback riding can already see access to some of our favorite trailheads being cut off. There are a number of individuals and organizations who might like to purchase land and give it to the Park to protect special resources or to keep trailheads open. Landowners should have the right to do this if they desire. If the boundary of Shenandoah National Park can be frozen by legislation without the benefit of scientific information, a bad precedent will be set. Similar legislation could be introduced for other national parks.
Our only hope of stopping this legislation is to write Senators Warner and Robb and ask them not to introduce a bill that would freeze the Park boundary. So far, there is no Senate bill that includes such a provision, but Senator Warner is being lobbied intensely by proponents of the House bill to introduce a complementary bill. Please take 5 minutes to call or write Senator John Warner ((202)224-2023) and Senator Charles Robb((202)224-2024): U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510 with this simple message:
Please do not introduce any legislation that will freeze the boundary of Shenandoah National Park. The Related Lands Study should be completed. When it is finished, appropriate boundaries based on complete information can be determined.
Thanks for doing all you can to protect the Park!
Membership
Membership in the VWC is open to anyone who believes in the need for preservation of wilderness. To join, send a copy of a recent letter supporting wilderness written to a public official, OR send $5.00 or more per year to the VWC Treasurer, address below. Thank you.The date opposite your name on the mailing label indicates when (month & year) you last made a contribution to VWC. Please check it and if the date is more than one year old, a new contribution from you will be warmly welcomed.
Officers
PRESIDENT Lynn Cameron 95 Hope St., Harrisonburg, VA 22801 (703) 434-1318
VICE PRES Dan French 107 Merry Acres Dr., Madison Heights, VA 24572 (703) 845-1605
TREASURER Julie Simpson P.O. 11 E Monmouth, Winchester, VA 22601 (703) 662-7043
SECRETARY Charles Pierce 211 Evening Lane, Winchester, VA 22603 (703) 667-3184