Update on Potomac Pipeline
I signed onto the following letter requesting the Secretary of Maryland Department of the Environment urge the Army Corps to require Columbia Gas to apply for an individual federal permit for the project. The following is a copy of the signed letter (see the PDF of the official letter at the bottom).
December 13, 2021
Secretary Ben Grumbles
Maryland Department of the Environment
1800 Washington Boulevard
Baltimore, MD 21230
Dear Secretary Grumbles:
We understand that Columbia Gas continues to pursue its controversial Eastern Panhandle Expansion Project. Most recently, the company applied for coverage under the Maryland State Programmatic General Permit (“Maryland General Permit-6”) from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We request that the Maryland Department of the Environment urge the Army Corps to require Columbia Gas to apply for an individual federal permit for the proposed project, instead of reauthorizing it under Maryland General Permit-6. An individual permit will enable regulators to fully examine the impacts of this project. And it will allow the public—who have been deeply concerned about this project since it was first proposed—the opportunity to comment.
Columbia Gas’s pipeline has long been a cause of serious concern for the public and state and local governments. Members of the General Assembly have already sent two letters in opposition to the project—this is our third such letter. The project threatens resources of special importance, including the Potomac River, upon which six million people rely on for drinking water every day. Given that Maryland has banned fracking, it defies our state’s existing energy policy to bring the same public health risks to our residents by way of a pipeline. Moreover, enabling fossil fuel production runs counter to our state’s goals of increasing renewable energy production.
We believe this project would reverse course on our state’s efforts to protect the health of our residents and combat climate change.
We urge you to do everything within your power to urge the Army Corps to require Columbia Gas to apply for an individual federal permit for the project.
Sincerely,
Senator Brian Feldman Senator Shelly Hettleman Senator Ben Kramer Senator Susan C. Lee
Senator Jim Rosapepe Senator Will Smith Senator Jeff Waldstreicher Senator Ron Young
Delegate Sandy Bartlett Delegate Lisa Belcastro Delegate Regina T. Boyce Delegate Ben Brooks
Delegate Jon Cardin Delegate Al Carr Delegate Mark Chang Delegate Lorig Charkoudian
Delegate Charlotte Crutchfield Delegate Eric Ebersole Delegate Jessica Feldmark
Delegate Diana Fennell Delegate Shaneka Henson Delegate David Fraser-Hidalgo
Delegate Michele Guyton Delegate Anne Healey Delegate Terri Hill Delegate Rachel Jones
Delegate Marc Korman Delegate Mary Lehman Delegate Robbyn Lewis Delegate Brooke Lierman
Delegate Lesley Lopez Delegate Sara Love Delegate Eric Luedtke Delegate David Moon
Delegate Julie Palakovich Carr Delegate Edith J. Patterson Delegate Joseline Peña-Melnyk Delegate Susie Proctor Delegate Kirill Reznik Delegate Sheila Ruth Delegate Dana Stein
Delegate Vaughn Stewart Delegate Jen Terrasa Delegate Kriselda Valderrama Delegate Alonzo Washington Delegate Courtney Watson Delegate Jheanelle Wilkins Delegate Nicole Williams Delegate Karen Lewis Young
