Attorneys Urge Board To Revoke Water Quality Certification For MVP

Attorneys representing 10 local, state, and regional organizations sent a letter today to the members of the State Water Control Board, urging the Board quickly start a process to revoke the water quality certification issued for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). At the same time, the attorneys strongly urge the Board to use enforcement tools available to it to stop work on the pipeline while the revocation process goes forward.

These attorneys were answering a letter MVP sent to DEQ Director David Paylor on February 12, 2019 that was subsequently given to Water Board members. MVP claims that a “cooperative effort [between MVP and DEQ] on the Project has achieved a high level of environmental protection and overall is in very good order.” However, the evidence demonstrates otherwise.

Today’s letter states: “In truth, the evidence shows a systematic and continual pattern of flouting the law and causing harm as a consequence. When caught in violations, MVP sometimes responds to those individual occurrences but does not seek to find and fix the other locations where those same conditions exist.”

Today’s letter also provides arguments to counter MVP’s contention that the state lacks authority to revoke the certification. The company claims Virginia passed up its chance to rule on the certification in the first place and that a condition imposed by Virginia allowing revocation is not enforceable – this in spite of the fact that MVP went to federal court to defend this same certification.

Read More:

• Letter to State Water Control Board
• Attachment A to Letter to SWCB
• Attachment B to Letter to SWCB
• Attachment C Letter to SWCB
• Attachment D to Letter to SWCB

Governor Uses Loophole To Hide Documents in response to FOIAS on Air and Water Boards, Meeting with Dominion

In response to requests for documents about meetings and deliberations that may relate to Dominion Energy’s proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, the Governor’s office has supplied some records but has withheld other, crucial information. When faced with a choice between open government and concealment, Governor Northam made the wrong choice, relying on state law provisions that allow, but do not require, him to shield certain public information from the people of Virginia.

We are disappointed that the Governor has refused to release all the records we requested. The result is, while we have acquired some information, those documents do not answer vital questions that many Virginians are asking:

Did Governor Northam manipulate the process for Air Board appointments to influence the upcoming decision on Dominion’s proposed Buckingham compressor station for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP)?

Did Governor Northam discuss the ACP and Air Board appointments in a private meeting with Dominion officials on November 19, when a public furor over the changes in Air Board membership was raging?

As we stated in our FOIA requests, while we anticipated that the administration may claim the exemptions provided in the statute, we hoped they would choose to let the public see the records.

Statements from the Northam administration about the Air Board personnel changes have been met with widespread public skepticism (See: Northam’s struggle to explain air board move suggests it’s exactly what it appears to be, Virginia Mercury, December 5; ‘Ugly episode:’ Northam allies slam his decision to alter board before Dominion vote, Washington Post, November 27; Northam can seek independent voices, or mere rubber stamps, for his boards, Virginian-Pilot, November 23). If assertions provided by administration spokespersons are true, the Governor could only benefit from a full public airing of the records. His hesitancy to do so can only contribute to Virginian’s doubts and taint the regulatory process for the ACP.

Here’s what Wild Virginia did receive via emails from the Governor’s office late on December 6th:

Air and Water Board Member Removals/Appointments
The email responding to the FOIA request can be found here. The administration states that “the Office is withholding five documents pursuant to Virginia Code Section 2.2-3705.7(2).” This Code section allows for withholding of records deemed to be “working papers” in the possession of the Governor’s office.

At this link is a document combining a series of emails and other correspondence to (and between) government officials regarding both Air and Water Board membership. Many of the records include recommendations from various parties for members of both Boards, applications and resumes from candidates, and correspondence with members of the news media.

It is notable that there are emails from late October through November 7, 2018 where administration officials mention plans to discuss Air and Water Board appointments, indicating that these processes had begun before the Air Board’s November 9 meeting. However, there is a gap in the correspondence within the Governor’s office followed, abruptly, by letters from the Governor dated November 16, 2018 asking the Secretary of the Commonwealth to prepare commissions for the prospective appointees. The key factor, the advice and reasoning followed in making these decisions, is entirely missing.

Excluded Information
Again, the excluded information could possibly answer some of the questions to which the public demands answers. The bottom line is that we still don’t know whether the Governor’s actions were influenced by concerns that the dismissed Air Board members, Ms. Rubin and Mr. Bleicher, had expressed about DEQ’s proposed Air permit for the Buckingham compressor station.

The Meeting Between Governor Northam and Thomas Farrell
Thomas Farrell, Dominion’s president and CEO, met with the Governor on November 19, a fact that is known to the public only because citizens received a tip and filmed Farrell leaving the office. We and others wanted to know whether the Air Board and ACP were discussed at that meeting. Again, the Governor’s office withheld two records under the “working papers” allowance (access Northam FOIA Farrell mtg. 12.6.18)

In emails setting up the meeting parties mention an initiative between Dominion and Smithfield addressing “a major methane containment proposal” as the stated purpose for the meeting. Given that the Governor’s office has cited this same reason for the meeting and that the project has now been widely publicized, if no other matters were discussed, we must wonder what those concealed records pertain to.

We believe the circumstances surrounding the Air Pollution Control Board appointments continue to create a question whether principles of due process have been breached for the Buckingham compressor station permit. We hoped the Governor would remove this cloud of doubt.

Wild Virginia calls on the Governor to correct this problem and we call on our members across Virginia and our allies to continue to call for Rubin and Bleicher to be allowed to vote at next week’s Air Board hearing. The people of Union Hill and all Virginian’s are depending on a fair process and this action can help ensure it.

Link to the Wild Virginia Press Release

Wild Virginia Seeks Public Records from the Governor on Pipeline Maneuvers

Wild Virginia sent letters to the office of Governor Ralph Northam on November 21, 2018 asking for records related to two vital issues in the State of Virginia’s actions to regulate the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipeline projects.

First, we asked for any documents describing a private meeting between Thomas Ferrell, Dominion Energy’s CEO, the Governor, and DEQ Director David Paylor on November 19th. (See article in Blue Virginia), We believe that while regulatory reviews of ACP are ongoing it is important that our State officials tell us exactly what their relations with the regulated parties are. That’s the principle behind the Freedom of Information Act – that the people know as much as possible about their government and its workings. As stated in the letter to Rita Davis, the Governor’s Counsel, “Governor Northam has repeatedly promised that regulatory processes will be fully transparent and fair.” And while we acknowledged that the Governor may be able shield these records from public view under exemptions in the law, our representatives may waive those exemptions and “[c]oncealment of the information requested in this letter will not be consistent with [the Governor’s] promises.”

Second, we requested records that would reveal the Governor’s process for deciding whether and when to remove members of the Air Pollution Control Board and the State Water Control Board.” The timing of dismissals of two members from each Board, especially the two Air Board members who had expressed concerns about the permit for ACP’s Buckingham compressor station, has raised serious questions as to whether the Governor has sought to influence what are supposed to be independent citizen Boards. All of these members’ terms had expired at the end of June this year and their sudden removals just weeks before the Air Board is to make a final decision on Buckingham air permit, raises serious questions. Was this action taken to influence the outcome of that vote? Can newly-named Air Board members possibly be adequately prepared to judge the complex issues involved by the time the Board meets on December 10? Will this action have a chilling effect on Board members who may question DEQ’s proposals in the future?

Full disclosure in regard to both issues we’ve addressed is necessary and we hope the Governor will live up to the ideals of open and honest government he has espoused. Stay tuned for news of his response to our requests.

Read the FOIA’s here

FOIA Request, Records Related to Meeting Between Governor Northam, Dominion Energy, and State Agencies

FOIA Request, Records Related to Dismissal and Appointment of Members of the Air Pollution Control Board and the State Water Control Board