Published by the Danville Register and Bee.

To the editor:

I am writing out of deep concern for my family and community to respond to a
recent article, (“Report: MVP’s impact ‘minimal,’” Sept. 30).

Haven’t we learned from recent history about the risks of dirty energy projects?
Between the coal ash spill and threats of uranium mining, Danville and Pittsylvania
County have been through enough. We should reject the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Locally, the Mountain Valley Pipeline will overstep private property rights through
the use of eminent domain, pose threats to future economic development projects
and hurt our natural environment. As if that’s not enough, the local impact is only
the tip of the iceberg. Since this pipeline will move natural gas obtained through a
process called “hydraulic fracturing,” it’s enabling much worse abuses at its source.
Unlike traditional gas wells, “fracking” uses intense underground water pressure —
and some chemicals — to fracture rocks and extract more natural gas. It helps
make the company more money but has left a well-documented trail of serious
health issues and ruined water wells.

The problem is really even bigger than that: natural gas pipelines are bad news for
the communities where the company drills and the land the pipeline crosses, but
they also put our entire planet at risk by contributing to global warming. I am a state
governing board member of Virginia Organizing, and we have chapters across the
state. Members of our South Hampton Roads Chapter are experiencing climate
change firsthand. Terrible flooding due to sea level rise has become a normal
experience. These floods ruin homes, close schools and cause millions of dollars in
damage. Within a couple generations, we night lose an important part of our state.
We have to do everything we can to stop it.

Before the coal ash spill hit us a couple of years ago, Duke Energy and government
regulators told us we had nothing to worry about. It was only after the spill that they
seriously examined their other coal ash ponds and started making changes that
should have been decades earlier.

I don’t want to learn another lesson the hard way. Instead, let’s ask the tough
questions now and do what’s right for future generations. Let’s stop the Mountain
Valley Pipeline.

JOHNNY MAYO
Danville