Utilities have too much power
“Berry, of Blacksburg, is a retired real estate agent. She has degrees in biology and zoology from Virginia Tech.
In July, people in Floyd County were contacted by surveyors seeking to enter their properties to survey them for the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline, which will run through Southwestern Virginia to North Carolina, carrying fracked gas from West Virginia. While Floyd County residents have organized to resist this intrusion, Montgomery County has not.
Recently, my husband received a call from an unidentified person who said he was a surveyor representing Dominion Power, and wanted permission to enter our Montgomery County property to survey for a 42-inch pipeline to cross our property. My husband said “No, never,” and after verifying that the person was indeed referring to our home address, the conversation ended. Recently, we received a letter from the Mountain Valley Pipeline headquarters in Beckley stating that it wants to enter our property to survey it for the proposed project.
The required procedure for a utility to enter your property for surveying is that the power company must send you a certified letter at least two weeks prior to the day they wish to enter. You may decline. If you decline it may still enter your property, but only on foot without motorized vehicles or equipment.
Ironically, we are already party to the fight in Augusta County against the proposed East Coast Pipeline, which will cross farms and forests there, including (according to the maps posted by Dominion) our family farm, which is supposed to be protected by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation.”
Berry, Laura. Roanoke Times 29 September 2014.