Editor, The Herald:

Twenty-two years ago my family and I moved from Tidewater to the village of Buckingham Court House near the center of the state. We have an old home in a beautiful rural area. Beyond the large organic garden in our back yard is our neighbor’s hay field, then forest and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Caring for the environment is extremely important to us, and we treasure and respect the wild creatures that also live here.

Our modest-sized property is a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat. We do everything we can to care for our area, including picking up the trash that motorists throw onto our roads. We are also members of the Sierra Club of Virginia, Nature Conservancy, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, National Park Conservation Association and the National Resources Defense Council.

I am extremely distressed by Dominion’s proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline and its attitude of bullying its way through our beautiful area. The idea of the pipeline slicing through the national forest, going under the James River and through our neighbors’ properties with fracked gas is very upsetting.

I am a nature illustrator and am thankful that I can work at home in this inspiring place. I am also thankful that I can be here for our adult daughter who has Down Syndrome and Autism. She has chronic ear, nose and throat issues as well, and is very vulnerable to environmental influences. The proposed compressor station site is just a few short miles upwind of our home, and with a northwest wind the pollution from that compressor station could go straight into her already fragile body, causing even more health problems.

If we had the money we would go solar, but unfortunately the cost is too high! It would be a blessing if Dominion would abandon this project and put its resources into renewable energy instead.

This is a nightmare.

Cris Arbo

Buckingham County