AND JUST HOURS LATER, I learned that one of the pipelines I covered in-the-field last week—the Atlantic Coast Pipeline— had construction HALTED by a Federal Appeals Court!
Disgustingly, Dominion Energy, which has paid off the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner as well as most of Virginia's politicians, was approved to put the pipeline and its MASSIVE compressor station—which would emit methane, benzene, carbon, and other contaminants—right in the backyard of Union Hill Baptist Church, which is an historic black church where former freed slaves are buried. Because, why not dump a pipeline and compressor station in a poor, 85 percent black community, right?
Hearing the news was surreal for me because I was literally just on the road interviewing affected residents and the church's Pastor. I thought there was a shot at stopping the pipeline, but I didn't think it would be stopped in a matter of days.
WATCH my powerful interview with John Laury, who comes from a family lineage of slaves. The compressor station was set to be dumped in his backyard.
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