Comment Now to FERC on Mountain Valley Pipeline
From now until December 22, FERC (the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) is accepting comments on the the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline project. Citizens groups along the proposed pipeline’s path are urging everyone to review the document and make comments, either in person or in writing.

Express your concern! West Virginia Rivers Coalition has prepared a fact sheet which summarizes how the DEIS lacks critical information. Without this information FERC is unable to conclude that the project will have no significant impact. Feel free to use the fact sheet as you comment to FERC. 

The West Virginia hearings are on now:

Today, Tuesday, November 1
5:00 – 10:00 p.m.
Lewis County High School
205 Minuteman Drive
Weston, WV 26452

Wednesday, November 2
5:00 – 10:00 p.m.
Nicholas County High School
30 Grizzly Road
Summersville, WV 26651

Thursday, November 3
5:00 – 10:00 p.m.
Peterstown Elementary School
108 College Drive
Peterstown, WV 24963

Hearings are on in VA and PA, too. Find a listing of all the hearings on our calendar page.

Do a little more: Sign a petition to the U.S. Forest Service and elected officials!  

If you can’t make one of the hearings, you can use this easy e-form to comment online, or better yet, use the information here to submit your own personalized comments.  

Online Update! Public Comment Sessions ~ Peterstown, WV

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2016 • Peterstown Elementary School, 108 College Drive, Peterstown, WV 24963

Open Community Meeting ~ Starts at 5:00 p.m. in the gym.  

FERC Sessions ~ 5:00 to 10:00 pm ~ Cafeteria (must sign in by 8:00)

FERC and MVP May Turn OUR WEST VIRGINIA COUNTIES into a MULTI-PIPELINE “UTILITY CORRIDOR”

This is your chance to submit comments in person and let FERC know how you feel about the pipeline coming here. 

The Open Community Meeting will be a place to gather before and after submitting comments to FERC. Comments will be recorded to make sure there is an accurate record. Stay as long as you want, to make your own comment and to hear what others have to say.

Official FERC Listening Sessions are 1-on-1 recorded comments, probably limited to 3 minutes. You can read your comment and hand in a written version too.

You can help by attending both of these sessions to show your opposition to the MVP.

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Join Us for Free Screening of Time to Choose Friday, November 4: Join OVEC at 5:30 p.m. at our Huntington office for a free screening of Time To Choose, a film about climate change. Watch the trailer here. We’ll serve pizza, popcorn, and beverages, and there’ll be time for discussion after the 98-minute film. 

About the film: Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Charles Ferguson (Inside Job, No End in Sight) turns his lens to address worldwide climate change challenges and solutions in his new film Time to Choose. The film leaves audiences understanding not only what is wrong, but what can be done to fix this global threat.

OVEC provided extensive help for research for shot locations and background information for the mountaintop removal segments of this film. A staff member served as an aerial and ground guide when the crew was filming in WV, and OVEC members are interviewed in the film.   

Speaking of films we’ve been involved in, we are thrilled that Blood on the Mountain will begin airing in theaters on November 18. Watch our calendar, our Facebook page, and our Twitter feed for more info.

If you want to help spread the word, here’s a sample tweet: What happens when corporations have absolute control? Blood on the Mountain @BOTMfilm https://www.facebook.com/BloodontheMountain #workersrights

We lent a little helping hand to the first season of Years of Living Dangerously. Season two premiered October 30. If you missed it, you can watch it on Hulu, iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, or NatGeo’s TV Everywhere app. Season 2: Episode 1 will also be re-airing on National Geographic Channel this Wednesday at 9 p.m. before the newest episode airs at 10 p.m. Each episode this season will air at 10 p.m. on Wednesdays.  

If you want to help spread the word, here’s a sample tweet: WATCH @YEARSofLIVING’s newest season on @NatGeoChannel to see the impacts of climate change & learn solutions to combat it #YEARSproject

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You Can Join Our Stream Teams
The proposed Mountaineer XPress Pipeline would stretch 167 miles from Marshall County, WV to Wayne County, WV. The pipeline would include 24- and 36-inch diameter pipelines, three compressor stations, three regulator stations and modifications at three existing compressor stations.

MXP would cross streams and rivers in our region. That’s why we’ve had training and have set up stream monitoring teams in Putnam, Jackson, Cabell, Roane. We are still looking for folks to take on monitoring streams in Wayne County. If you are interested in teaming up with an established crew or working with a trained volunteer in Wayne County, please contact Keena Mullins at 304-522-0246 or keena@ohvec.org. You don’t necessarily have to reside in these counties to join the stream teams. 

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Talk to EPA, Come to a Solar Open House and More Upcoming Events
November 2: EPA listening session / information gathering public meeting on above ground storage tanks. The meeting takes place from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. at the WV DEP, 601 57th Street SE, Charleston, WV 25304, in the Cooper’s Rock Room.

Earlier this year, People Concerned about Chemical Safety, in conjunction with Environmental Justice Health Alliance and The Natural Resources Defense Council, won a legal settlement with the EPA. The EPA agreed to develop and finalize spill prevention rules to help protect communities against chemical spills from above ground storage tanks, like the 2014 Elk River MCHM spill.

This meeting is for we, the people, to provide information to the EPA on federal standards we want placed on above ground storage tanks and secondary containment systems in order to protect our public water systems, and ground water.

More details on the meeting here. 

The EPA requests pre-registration for people planning to attend. Registration is required to attend the meeting. You may pre-register through today, November 1. When registering, you should indicate whether or not you plan to speak. While onsite (walk-in) registration will be available, seating for those that register onsite is limited and on a first-come, first-served basis. 

Solar Open House In Roane County on November 5

Come to Roane County to see this solar array and learn about how this family went solar. Details here. 

Also on November 5, from noon to 6 p.m. in Huntington at Heritage Station:  

Tuesday, November 8: General Election Day. In West Virginia, polls are open from 6:30 a.m. through 7:30 p.m. Find your WV polling place here.

November 12-17: #NoLameDuck Uprising: Stop the TPP! Details here. Register here.

November 16: 2016 Shale & Public Health Conference, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania and hosted by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. From 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the University of Pittsburgh University Club Ballroom B, 123 University Place, Pittsburgh, PA. Register here.

November 29: #GIVINGTUESDAY

Whether you partake in the frenzy that is Black Friday or observe Buy Nothing Day, and whether or not you are into CyberMonday, you can be part of a beautiful worldwide celebration on #GivingTuesday. Refocus on the deeper traditions of the holiday season by joining in #GivingTuesday, a global 14-hour campaign, in which people around the world come together for one common purpose: to celebrate generosity and to give. Give your time by volunteering, give a donation to one or more of your favorite non-profits, or give your energy by giving a helping hand. 

December 2: We The People are holding hearings to investigate the abuses of power and law being inflicted by FERC in communities across America.

When: December 2, 2016
Panels will be testifying from 11:30 to 4:30
Where: National Press Club, Washington, DC
Who: People who have experienced abuse at the hands of FERC and the pipeline industry.

Will you be among those to testify and bear witness to the abuses of FERC? If you are interested in submitting testimony, testifying or attending this People’s Hearing into abuses by FERC please fill out this google form: http://bit.ly/PeoplesHearingSurvey. See the December 2 entry on our calendar page for more info.  

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