West Virginia Community Cheers Maryland Governor Larry Hogan’s Decision to Block the Potomac Pipeline

CHARLES TOWN, WEST VIRGINIA.  Jefferson County Vision, a non-profit grassroots group, cheered the decision yesterday by the Maryland Board of Public Works to block the Potomac Pipeline from crossing Maryland into West Virginia.  The pipeline would open up a huge swath of the Potomac River watershed to industrial development and help power the planned Rockwool insulation plant near West Virginia schools.  The Maryland towns of Sharpsburg and Keedysville, and the City of Brunswick, have all formally opposed the Rockwool project.

Jefferson County Vision Board Member Amanda Foxx said, “The Potomac Pipeline isn’t about natural gas at all-- it is about bringing new coal-powered industrial development to the Shenandoah Valley. The proposed Rockwool insulation plant would use gas from the Potomac Pipeline AND burn coal in its around-the-clock operations.”

“The Potomac Pipeline would help transform a former apple orchard into the first phase of a new heavy industrial belt just six miles from the Maryland border.”

“Many people in Maryland are joining us in speaking out against Rockwool’s plan to build heavy industry next to schools.  We are grateful for Governor Hogan’s leadership in helping protect the air, water, and historical resources of the mid-Atlantic region.”