Editor:

The latest insult from Dominion in the sordid saga of its planned Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) is the plan to remove from 10-60 feet of ridge tops along 38 miles of the pipeline route. But Dominion bristles at calling this “mountaintop removal.” Perhaps the company is dreaming up a new name for the process of blasting away land that sounds environmentally friendly?

In a a telephone interview, Dominion spokesman Aaron Ruby stated, “For a 50-foot-wide strip on some of these ridge lines, there won’t be trees replanted, otherwise, you would not notice. I mean, the contours of the ridge lines will remain exactly the same as they always have been.” Huh?

The ACP isn’t the only planned pipeline for Virginia though.

The Mountain Valley Pipeline in Southern Virginia will wreak additional devastation. Blasting mountaintops will result in huge amounts of sediment in our pristine waterways. Erosion will introduce inevitability of landslides. Fragile ecosystems will be irreparably unbalanced in these oldest mountains on the planet.

I recently had the opportunity to walk in old growth forest that lies in the path of the ACP, along a narrow ridgetop. The beauty of the forest was beyond stunning, and very similar to the pristine countryside in Dominion’s new TV commercial that touts the company as a leader in clean energy.

That’s as much of an oxymoron as Ruby saying 50 feet of missing trees won’t be noticed.

Deborah Kushner

Nelson County