The News Virginian, By Bob Stuart

A survey of Virginia voters commissioned by the Virginia Chamber of Commerce and released Wednesday offers overwhelming support for the construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

The poll of voter attitudes by The Tarrance Group of 500 registered likely Virginia voters found that 55 percent support the pipeline project, while only 29 percent oppose the construction, and 16 percent are unsure. The intensity of support includes 35 percent strongly supporting and 19 percent strongly opposed.

The proposed 600-mile underground natural gas pipeline, which would run from West Virginia through Virginia to North Carolina, would include 55 miles of Augusta County. The pipeline application is currently before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The survey also selected from a matrix of issues that education and workforce training (25 percent) is the most important one for improving Virginia. Health care registered second at 19 percent.

The survey found that 69 percent support Virginia's right to work law. A constitutional amendment in favor of Virginia's right to work status is on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Having less traction with the voters is support for building a Virginia stadium for the Washington Redskins. A 46 percent plurality favored moving from Fed Ex Field in Maryland to a new Northern Virginia stadium.

Dominion Resources, the lead utility in the pipeline project, offered a statement regarding the survey results:

"The Virginia Chamber of Commerce's poll released this morning once again confirms the overwhelming majority of Virginians support the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. If this were an election, it would be a landslide. Virginians understand that natural gas is a cleaner alternative to coal and that this pipeline will help us improve our environment. They understand that we need to build new infrastructure to grow our economy and power the lives of a growing population."

The statement further said "a vast majority of Virginians support this pipeline as a common sense solution to our growing energy needs. They want a cleaner environment; they want new industries; they want good-paying jobs."

Read the full article from The News Virginian.