The Robesonian
by T.C. Hunter  

RICHMOND, Va. — The corporation behind the Atlantic Coast Pipeline announced Thursday a sweet initiative that might make the project easier for opponents to swallow.

Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC intends to establish new habitats for butterflies, bees and other pollinator insects along the route of the proposed pipeline, including in Eastern North Carolina.

The project has identified 750 acres of suitable locations along roughly 50 miles of the proposed pipeline route, with the most suitable locations found in flatter areas in southern Virginia and Eastern North Carolina, according to a corporate press release. Dozens of native seed mixes have been developed for the program, including native grasses such as little bluestem and beaked panicum, and wildflowers such as partridge pea and black-eyed Susan. The program is voluntary and will be implemented with the approval and input of participating landowners.

“Utility corridors offer ideal habitats for all kinds of wildlife, but especially the pollinators that are so essential for food production,” said Pamela Faggert, Dominion Energy’s chief environmental officer and senior vice president of Sustainability. “This initiative builds on the more than 43,000 acres of pollinator habitats Dominion Energy has created along our electric transmission and distribution rights of way. We’re excited to build on that progress and continue doing our part to improve our region’s natural environment.”

The initiative was unveiled when the plan to build a 36-inch natural gas pipeline that would originate in West Virginia and terminate in the Prospect community of Robeson County is still awaiting state and federal approval. There is no firm date for completion of the 600-mile pipeline.

On Aug. 7, the Robeson County Board of Commissioners approved a conditional-use permit allowing the construction of a monitoring station and a cell tower near the Prospect community. The station and tower are essential to the pipeline’s construction.

The most recent public exhibition of opposition was at the Southeastern North Carolina Agricultural Events Center in Lumberton on Aug. 17 when about 50 people came to a public forum. About 20 people stood to express concerns about the pipeline’s effect on the environment and regional cultures and to question the $5.5 billion project’s promised economic benefits.

Pipeline backers continue to push the project and try to sell it to the public.

“Pollinators are essential to the production of many of the fruits and vegetables we eat daily,” the release reads in part. “However, pollinator populations, particularly bees and butterflies, have sharply declined in recent years due to the loss of suitable habitat. The Pollinator Habitat Initiative will create hundreds of acres of new pollinator habitat by replanting the Atlantic Coast Pipeline right of way with native grasses and wildflowers that attract the species.”

In developing the program, the project consulted with a number of wildlife experts, including Bob Glennon, a private lands biologist for Virginia Tech’s Conservation Management Institute, according to the release.

“By replanting the pipeline right of way with pollinator habitats, as opposed to mowed grasses, we’ll be creating hundreds of acres of new habitat for these species that we otherwise wouldn’t have,” Glennon said. “I couldn’t think of a more environmentally beneficial use of these spaces, and I’m very proud to be a part of it.”

One of the participating landowners is Ward Burton, founder and president of the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation. Two of the foundation’s parcels are crossed by the pipeline in southern Virginia and have been selected for the initiative.

“As a lifelong conservationist, I couldn’t be more excited to participate in this program,” Burton said. “Not only will it be beneficial for the pollinators, but it’s also going to create new habitats for other wildlife like quail, turkey and songbirds. I see this as a really creative way to not just restore the right of way, but actually enhance its environmental value beyond what it was when we started.”