Barber, Gore to visit Union Hill

Published 10:34 am Thursday, February 7, 2019

Activist the Rev. Dr. William Barber II and former Vice President Al Gore are set to visit Union Hill in Buckingham County on Feb. 19 to discuss the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) and the Buckingham Compressor Station, which is projected to be located in the Union Hill area.

According to a social media page detailing the event, The Poor People’s Campaign and the Climate Reality Project in collaboration with the community of Union Hill are organizing the project. Details concerning the location and time are expected to be released closer to the day of the event.

Gore and Barber have spoken publicly about Union Hill and ACP in the past. Barber and Gore signed an open letter to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s State Air Pollution Control Board concerning the air permit for the Buckingham Compressor Station. The letter was written by Pastor Paul Wilson of Union Hill and Union Grove Baptist Churches, Chad Oba, president of Friends of Buckingham and Dr. Lakshmi Fjord.

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Members of the State Air Pollution Control Board voted 4-0 to approve the air permit Jan. 8.

Gore, on Dec. 18, tweeted this message in response to Union Hill and the ACP.

“I support the Union Hill community in VA fighting this dirty fossil fuel infrastructure & I support Environmental Justice. #WeAreAllUnionHill.”

The ACP natural gas project is 600 miles and will start in West Virginia, travel through Virginia and end in North Carolina. A 42-inch pipeline would span Buckingham County, and cross Cumberland and Prince Edward counties.