Controversial T15 Pipeline Approved

Raleigh, N.C.- The pipeline will cross over 100 waterways within the state, connecting the MVP Southgate pipeline - that does not yet have authorization to be built - to Duke Energy's proposed gas plants on Hyco Lake. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality approved the 401 Water Quality permit for this project late today. After persistent outreach from community members, the Department of Environmental Quality required Enbridge Energy to create and follow a private well identification and testing plan.

The pipeline will deliver gas to two proposed Duke-owned plants in Person County. The pipeline will run near an elementary school while the new power plants are next to a community that was impacted by coal ash contamination to their drinking water and decades of air pollution from a nearby coal plant. Duke lobbied in support of Senate Bill 266, which Gov. Stein vetoed because it could cost North Carolina families and businesses up to $23 billion in natural gas fuel costs alone through 2050. Duke's new gas-burning power plants will contribute to the $23 billion in fuel costs at a time when the cost of new gas plantsis skyrocketing.

Statement from Olive Burress, Sierra Club North Carolina Organizer:

"The T15 pipeline will lock North Carolina into decades of extracting, transporting, and burning natural gas while exposing working families to massively volatile fuel prices. Natural gas, which is predominantly methane, is a potent greenhouse gas that will make the already drastic impacts of climate change even worse for North Carolinians."

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America's largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit https://www.sierraclub.org.