OVEC Releases Renew West Virginia Special Edition Newspaper

OVEC

An OVEC Press Release

View this Press Release Online  —  Mar 10, 2017

For Immediate Release                                           March 10, 2017
Contacts
:

Vivian Stockman, 304-522-0246 or vivian@ohvec.org

Robin Blakeman, 304-522-0246 or robin@ohvec.org

OVEC Releases Renew West Virginia Special Edition Newspaper

Publication Examines Fracking and Pipelines Threats to Tri-State Area and Renewable Energy Advancements in West Virginia

HUNTINGTON, W.VA.—What is our energy future?

That’s the question addressed in a new publication from OVEC, the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, an environmental and social justice group based in Huntington.

The publication, Renew West Virginia, examines the health and pollution impacts of the fracking boom in other areas of West Virginia, and details fracking-related projects proposed for the greater Huntington area. It also explores the nationwide growth of renewable energy and related jobs, with a focus on the renewable energy efforts underway in Cabell and Wayne counties.

OVEC has produced and printed 29,000 copies of the 28-page special edition newspaper. The paper will be mailed to people in Cabell, Wayne, Putnam, Jackson, and Roane counties who reside near some of the proposed pipelines and their associated compressors stations.

Copies of the paper will also be available to the public at an informational meeting OVEC will host at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 15 at the Main Cabell County Library, 455 9th Street (corner of 5th Ave. and 9th St. in downtown Huntington).

A total of nine large diameter pipelines are proposed to come through the Huntington area. Unlike the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone XL Pipeline, which are largely completed already, the fracked-gas pipelines proposed for the Huntington area are not yet in construction, and some are still in the planning phases.

Columbia’s Leach XPress pipeline is planned to bore under the Ohio River near Camden Amusement Park, and Columbia’s Mountaineer XPress pipeline is currently in the public comment phase. There is also industry discussion now about fracking the very deep Rogersville Shale which underlies the Huntington area.

“All across the United States, a new energy for citizen action is emerging. We need to tap into that energy and work with others concerned about the severe climate impacts of these planned developments in our neighborhoods,” says OVEC Executive Director Natalie Thompson. “As pipeline companies seek eminent domain rights, we need to remember that informed and organized people can demand their rights, protect their property, and contribute to a better energy future for our state and nation.”

“We see the problems our neighbors in north central West Virginia have faced with the rise of deep shale fracking-related activities. We’ve published Renew West Virginia because we want to make certain that people know deep shale fracking-related activities are not the same as our grandfathers’ oil and gas industry,” says Robin Blakeman, OVEC’s project coordinator. “Renewable is doable! We can choose to move West Virginia’s economy into the 21st century by embracing cleaner renewable energy.”

The print edition of the paper is free. The online version is available here.

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The Author

Vivian

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