Evidently Dominion spokesman Aaron Ruby must have fallen asleep during the testimony of the residents of Union Hill and the members of the Union Hill Baptist Church when they expressed their concern on having Dominion’s proposed massive gas compressor station placed on land directly next to their properties and adjacent to two churches.

This is simply too close for the more than 100 residents threatened by a leak, break, explosion or fire from the hazardous fuel stored and manipulated at the station.

Some residents are just 50 feet from the compressor station and most fall within the dangerous probable impact radius of any fire or explosion that could destroy people, animals and property in the zone.

The Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) itself is proposed for forced placement by eminent domain on or adjacent to more than 300 property owners who object to having their lives, land, property, livestock, water and air violated by an unnecessary pipeline that could leak, pollute and explode.

Dominion certainly has not taken great care at every step of the certification process to meet the highest standards of safety and health for the residents impacted by the pipeline. In fact, they only meet the lowest standards that exist, if they meet any standards at all.

Even their placement of the pipeline and compressor station was made by their engineers, and violates the Buckingham County Planning Commission’s Comprehensive Plan regulations on safety by forcing the planners and supervisors to violate their own plan.

The plan states that no dangerous industrial infrastructure like this belongs in an inhabited rural community far from any prompt response from our excellent volunteer fire departments and first responders to be able to arrive in time to save lives and property. Dominion says that we should just ignore any dangerous issues and that we should just trust them.

Dominon has claimed the county governments had better take the money offered for the ACP and not fight the project because the federal government will force it on the county anyway. So far, thousands of residents, ratepayers and organizations from West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina have united in opposing this unnecessary project that impacts so many of us in negative ways, damaging our property values, threatening our planned land growth and use and placing us in harms way.

So far, our opposition and criticism of the poorly-documented, inadequately-supported, and mistake-ridden proposal has delayed the project over a year from its initial schedule, costing Dominion millions of dollars. The legal opposition and media opposition is growing on every level. A smart Dominion executive would end their continued losses and withdraw this incomplete and unjustified proposal before their shareholders get wind of their poor performance.

Neither their project nor the ACP proposal meet the high standards expected of a Six Sigma Quality Corporation. Dominion gets an “F” on their weak plan, disregard for human safety and their incomplete submission.

Joseph Jeeva Abbate lives in Yogaville, and is the coordinator of Yogaville Environmental Solutions. His email address is jeeva@yogaville.org.