Environment and Outdoors
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The National Weather Service has issued its second Wind Advisory of the week for much of the Roanoke region. It mainly applies to areas from the Blue Ridge westward into neighboring North Carolina and West Virginia. The advisory takes effect at noon Wednesday and runs until 6:00 am Thursday. The Weather Service says wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour are expected, and that could result in scattered power outages and potential dangers on highways for high-profile vehicles.
FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE: Ashe-Alleghany NC-Surry-Watauga-Wilkes-Tazewell-Smyth-Bland-Giles-Wythe-Pulaski-Montgomery-Grayson-Carroll-Floyd-Craig-Alleghany VA-Bath-Roanoke-Botetourt-Rockbridge-Patrick-Franklin-Bedford-Amherst-Mercer-Summers-Monroe-Eastern Greenbrier-Western Greenbrier. Including the cities of West Jefferson, Sparta, Dobson, Boone, Wilkesboro, Tazewell, Marion, Bland, Pearisburg, Wytheville, Radford, Pulaski, Blacksburg, Independence, Whitetop, Troutdale, Volney, Galax, Floyd, New Castle, Clifton Forge, Covington, Hot Springs, Roanoke, Salem, Fincastle, Lexington, Buena Vista, Stuart, Rocky Mount, Bedford, Amherst, Bluefield, Flat Top, Hinton, Hix, Union, Lewisburg, White Sulphur Springs, Alderson, Quinwood, Duo, and Rainelle
…WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM NOON WEDNESDAY TO 6 AM EST THURSDAY…
* WHAT…West winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 50 mph expected.
* WHERE…Portions of central, south central, southwest and west central Virginia, north central and northwest North Carolina and southeast West Virginia.
* WHEN…From noon Wednesday to 6 AM EST Thursday.
* IMPACTS…Gusty winds could blow around unsecured objects. Tree limbs could be blown down and a few power outages may result.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…
Use extra caution when driving, especially if operating a high profile vehicle. Secure outdoor objects.
The public comment deadline is nearing before a proposed consent decree between the commonwealth and Mountain Valley Pipeline will be entered into court. They say the decree is unfair, unreasonable, and not in the public interest. And MVP opponents say state oversight remains insufficient. Freeda Cathcart is among to local pipeline opponents:
Under the proposed agreement between MVP and the commonwealth, the pipeline will pay a civil penalty of more than $2 million for environmental violations, and future compliance will be supervised by the courts. Pipeline officials say previous environmental shortcomings have been corrected.
Freeda Cathcart says this October 31 photo shows MVP environmental violations continue
The public comment period ends November 27. Click here for full consent decree information, including how to file a comment, on the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality website.
Blue Ridge Outdoors Magazine is conducting its 10th annual “Best of the Blue Ridge Awards” with online voting through November 7th. There are a number of categories, including best outdoor destination, Food and Drink venue – and best business, where Runabout Sports on Brambleton Avenue is one of the nominees, as are several other Roanoke area outdoor-oriented entries.
The man who eventually became Roanoke City’s “Scooter guy” says they believe it opens up an affordable transportation option. The plan is to have thrice as many scooters by this weekend as WFIR’s Ian Price reports:
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State game officials are using radio collars to help them learn a lot more about how bears live in central Virginia — and to help the population recover from what had been near elimination. Those collars provide insights about their habits and to place orphaned cubs in bear dens, where mothers almost always accept those cubs as one of their own. WFIR’s Evan Jones has more:
Diana Christopulos
Local environmentalist Diana Christopulos is in the running to win the Cox Conserves National Hero award – and she’s close. Taking that top prize would mean $50,000 that she says in this promotional video would go towards Appalachian Trail protection in the valley. A Virginian has never won the Cox Conserves National Hero award; you can vote for Diana Christopulos ONLY through tomorrow at coxconservesheroes.com/vote.
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Attorney General Mark Herring says Mountain Valley Pipeline has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $2.15 million for violating environmental regulations. And MVP agrees to submit to court-ordered and court-supervised compliance with environmental protections.
NEWS RELEASE: RICHMOND (October 11, 2019)—The Commonwealth of Virginia has reached an agreement with Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC that will force the company to submit to court-ordered and court-supervised compliance with environmental protections, impose additional layers of independent, third-party monitoring on the project, and require the payment of a significant $2.15 million civil penalty. The agreement will resolve the lawsuit filed in December 2018 by Attorney General Mark R. Herring on behalf of the State Water Control Board and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and includes the following key terms:
- Places MVP under court-ordered and court-supervised compliance with the State Water Control Law, Stormwater Management Act, Erosion and Sediment Control Law, the state-issued Clean Water Act Section 401 Water Quality Certification and all other applicable environmental laws for the duration of construction, adding additional layers of tough oversight and accountability. Any future violations would be a violation of both applicable environmental laws and a court order, which carries much more significant consequences.
- In court filings, MVP stated that it planned to challenge the validity of the Section 401 Certification issued by the State Water Control Board. If MVP had succeeded, construction would have continued but all the conditions and environmental protections the Board placed on the project would have been wiped away. This agreement locks MVP into the terms of the certification issued by the Board, and MVP waives any right to contest the previously filed suit.
- MVP will have to spend its own money for enhanced monitoring of erosion control measures throughout the project and for new monitoring of fisheries and wildlife in work areas. Independent, third-party auditors, who must be approved by DEQ, will make bi-weekly assessments to ensure that best management practices are being used and that erosion and sediment controls are installed and functioning properly.
- MVP must immediately confirm that it is in compliance with all applicable provisions of environmental laws, including remediation of previously identified instances of alleged noncompliance.
- MVP must pay a $2,150,000 civil penalty that will support ongoing environmental protection and enforcement activities in Virginia. By comparison, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection recently resolved similar allegations for just $266,000.
- If any future violations occur, MVP will have to immediately clean up the damage and restore the site at its own expense, and will be subject to an expedited process for imposing significant financial penalties of a predetermined amount.
- Advance notification to DEQ of any land-disturbing activity in or around each waterbody or wetland.
- The Commonwealth retains the ability to pursue any necessary remedy to protect public health or the environment during construction, and the Commonwealth can recover its costs for enforcing any provision of the consent decree.
There’s a festival on Saturday at the Vinton War Memorial where you not only can bring your dog – it’s encouraged. WFIR’s Ian Price has more:
NEWS RELEASE: Blue Ridge Parkway officials announced today the reopening of the Parkway from milepost 106 to milepost 112 near Roanoke, Virginia. This section of parkway was closed on Friday, September 6 due to hazardous driving conditions caused by settling of subsurface material under the roadway. Patching of the hazard areas has been completed and the road is back open for travel. Funding to complete full restoration of this portion of the motor road is anticipated in 2023 or later.
Parkway officials would like to thank local residents and parkway travelers for their patience during this process.
Remember, before planning travel on the Parkway, always check the Parkway’s Real Time Road Map for potential closures at https://go.nps.gov/ParkwayRoads.
Photo: Appalachians Against Pipelines
State Police say an Arizona man faces multiple charges – some of them felonies – for his protest of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Montgomery County. Troopers say 24-year-old Galen Shirman-Grabowski of Tucson locked himself to a contracted pipeline helicopter yesterday. Charges include felony tampering or damaging an aircraft.
NEWS RELEASE: ROANOKE Co, Va. – The morning of October 7, 2019 the Virginia State Police was notified that an unknown individual was attached to a contracted pipeline helicopter, located on Cove Hollow Road, near Route 460 in Montgomery County. Pipeline security responded at 6:40 a.m. and located a male subject which was attached by a Sleeping Dragon to the rotor mast of the helicopter. The subject was wearing a mask and refused to release himself from the helicopter. The Virginia State Police Tactical Field Force, Cut Team responded to the scene and removed the device. Galen Sol Shirman-Grabowski, 24, of Tucson, Az, was removed and arrested.
Grabowski was charged with the following:
5.1-22 – Tamper/Damage an Aircraft; felony.
18.2-422 – Prohibition of Wearing of masks in certain places; felony.
18.2-460 – Obstructing justice, without force; misdemeanor.
18.2-121 – Entering property of another for the purpose of damaging it; misdemeanor.
18.2-146 – Breaking, injuring, defacing, destroying or preventing the operation of vehicle, aircraft or boat; misdemeanor.
18.2-137 – Injuring property; misdemeanor.
Grabowski is being held without bond.