The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation has named two wetland areas official state conservation states.
The department named the wetlands conservation sites after the Charlottesville-based Center for Urban Habitats completed a survey to classify ecosystems present.
The study aimed to determine the probability that rare and endangered species live in the wetlands. Also, Dominion Energy has proposed an alternate route for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline that runs through the area.
The Spruce Creek Tributary Conservation Site and South Fork Flats Conservation Site lie within Horizon’s Village in Nelson County, a historically environmentally conscious community of about 400 acres located adjacent to the George Washington National Forest and Rockwood Valley.
The initial survey focused on several key areas on the property, and assessed the potential presence of rare or endangered species, said Devin Floyd, director of the Center for Urban Habitats.
“Basically the results of the report found that there were three ecosystems that are worthy of conserving,” Floyd said. “Most from the standpoint of being valuable to the story of natural history in Virginia, but also for the potential they hold.”
Due to time constraints, the initial surveying team did not identify all plants and animals present in the area, Floyd said.
The Atlantic pipeline route proposal has been developed with careful consideration of several variables, including safety and environmental concerns, said Frank Mack, manager of Dominion Energy’s transmission communications.
“Of course our goal is to try and find the best route with the least impact to the environment,” Mack said. “Our pipeline team looked [at] about 3,000 miles of possible routes to determine this one.”
Dominion has made several dozen adjustments to the proposed natural gas routes based on feedback from communities and landowners, like those of Horizon’s Village, Mack said.
Mack said environmental concerns are important in the planning and construction of natural gas pipelines, although crossing over wetlands like Horizon’s Village is not always avoidable.
“When possible we try to avoid running into historic districts or conservation sites,” Mack said. “If we can’t avoid it, we try to minimize it to the greatest extent possible and if we can’t do that, we mitigate.”
The Center for Urban Habitats and residents of Horizon’s Village strongly oppose the pipeline running through the newly established conservation sites, although they may face its construction in the future if this particular alternate route is determined to be in the public’s best interest.
“My hope is that the intending pipeline and other intrusions continue to avoid areas like this,” Floyd said.
Little is known of the potential species present in the wetlands, and what specific impact the installation of the pipeline might have on that biodiversity.
“The more the general public learns about natural history and the more chances they get to inquire, the more we find these rarities hiding right underneath our noses,” Floyd said.
If successful, approval for the pipeline route will likely come around the middle of 2016, after an environmental impact statement is released, which would allow construction to begin late 2016, Mack said.
The route for Atlantic Coast Pipeline has not yet been decided.
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