Proposed Potomac Pipeline Voted Down by the Maryland Board of Public Works

In a unanimous decision, Governor Larry Hogan and the Maryland Board of Public Works voted down the proposed “Potomac Pipeline” earlier this month after sustained opposition from environmental activists and state legislators. The 3.5 mile pipeline, which would have run beneath the Potomac river in western Maryland, had been proposed to carry natural gas from Pennsylvania to West Virginia.

The Board’s decision comes after a letter signed by over 60 members of the Maryland General Assembly was delivered to its three members, Governor Hogan, Comptroller Peter Franchot, and Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp. This letter was primarily organized by Delegate David Moon of District 20, which includes areas of Montgomery County, and urged the Board of Public Works to deny the Potomac Pipeline proposal. The delegates stated that the project“defies our state’s existing energy policy” under the 2017 ban on natural gas fracking, and “runs counter to our state’s goals of increasing renewable energy production.”

Much of the opposition to this pipeline stems from the desire to preserve areas of wetland in Washington County, as well as local streams and the Potomac River. Construction of the pipeline, as well as potential for leakage and pollution, would be detrimental to public health and the natural landscape of the area. Although Columbia Gas, the company proposing the Potomac Pipeline, has assured Marylanders that waterways will be protected, many activists and politicians are concerned about the damages that might be done.

“I think that’s been one of the big fears whenever one of these big projects are proposed,” Delegate Moon said.

The unanimous vote by the Board of Public Works, consisting of two Democrats and the Republican governor, in conjunction with the letter signed by Democrats from the legislature, shows bipartisan agreement in Maryland’s environmental protection. Many residents and activists were surprised by the governor’s vote against this project. In recent years, the governor has spoken out against fracking, but he has also argued in favor of it further in the past. Governor Hogan has stated that the letter written to the board by the legislature had no effect on his vote.

“We were always going to have a 3-0 vote,” Hogansaid. “It had nothing to do with any letter from the legislature, I can assure you.”

Columbia Gas, which is a subsidiary of energy company TransCanada, may still challenge or attempt to work around the decision by the Board. The company has stated that they are currently examining their options and strategies for moving ahead.

“Today’s vote denying our easement request is unfortunate,”spokesman Scott Castleman wrote in an email, as reported by the Washington Post. “That being said, it does not change the need for, or the company’s commitment to, our Eastern Panhandle Expansion Project.”

This project factors into a wider national debate about fossil fuel consumption and fracking and their effects on the environment. The Board’s decision to side with environmental activists sends a clear, bipartisan message that state of Maryland values our environment and is willing to take action to protect it.

Article by MoCo Student staff writer Elliot Davey of Wheaton High School