Editor:

I am an avid proponent for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) and have been for several years now. My comments today are related specifically to the current ACP/DEQ air emissions review and public hearings related to a permit request by ACP for the Buckingham Compressor Station. From my background while working in the Alaska oilfields during my 30 years of living there, I want to again express my complete support for this project. My personal support is based on real world experience in the construction of pipelines/pump (compressor) stations in the most harsh environment in America where wind chill temperatures can reach more than 100 degrees below 0 and in the most environmentally sensitive landscape in America where permafrost covers hundreds of miles of the pipeline path and facility sites. Here in Virginia, the air quality questions are worth consideration, but please know that this pipeline and compressor station, currently considered for construction, truly benefit from the latest clean air technologies and the highest standards of construction oversight/requirements. Please review the following text from the DEQ, Buckingham Compressor Station Air permit summary webpage;

“The permit establishes pollution limits with associated monitoring, record keeping and reporting to assure the limits are met on an on-going basis. The Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) required the permit applicant, Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC (ACP) to provide an extensive Best Available Control Technology (BACT) analysis and air quality dispersion modeling. The pollutant limits and monitoring requirements in the draft permit are more restrictive than the permits already issued in neighboring states for similar stations along the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.”

The air quality oversight is very thorough and the operational safeguards are extensive.

In conclusion, from having personal experience in the construction and the operational requirements of projects much more difficult than the ACP, I am an avid supporter of this project. Remember, natural gas is a very clean and safe energy product that can provide a secure energy future for all of Virginia. Industry and our local citizens both benefit from this project and the resulting stable long term energy source.

John Arsenault

Cullen