WBOY-TV West Virginia
by Marisa Matoyla

 While some people in West Virginia are fighting to keep the Atlantic Coast Pipeline from being built, others are welcoming what many officials call the jobs pipeline.

"It's going to be great for all of North Central West Virginia, and we are just pleased that Dominion is involving as many local people as possible," said Harrison County Chamber of Commerce President Kathy Wagner. "We just want everyone to be on board and grow our economy."

Dominion continues its efforts to get construction going on its proposed 600 mile Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

"It originates in Harrison County, West Virginia and will transport enough energy to power 5 million homes and businesses," said Dominion spokesperson Aaron Ruby. "It is going to travel through West Virginia into the western part of Virginia and down into the Tidewater region of Virginia, and then it will also extend down into southern North Carolina."

The pipeline is estimated to generate more than 3,000 construction jobs in West Virginia and contribute nearly $10.7 million in annual local property taxes throughout the state.  Dominion says that jobs number is a fraction of the total expected along the entire route.

"We're talking about a two year construction process that is going to support 17,000 jobs. A lot of those jobs are going to be a lot of those really good paying jobs that are going to be in the building and construction trades," said Ruby.   

Local leaders, including Harrison County Commission, have formally endorsed the project.  The pipeline ranked number 20 on President Donald Trump's list of the nation's top 52 infrastructure projects.

"The reason that is, I think this administration and many others in the country they want to see us create new good paying jobs in West Virginia and all across the region," said Ruby. They want us to revitalize our manufacturing sector and they want us to secure our nation's energy supply."    

 Safety is Dominion's top priority, and officials say it guides every decision.

"This is our community.  We live here, so the folks that are going to be building this pipeline, the folks that are going to be operating the pipeline, this is their community, too.  So when we say that we are going to build and operate the pipeline safely and in an environmentally way, that's a deeply personal commitment that we are making to our own community, our own friends and neighbors, our own families," said Ruby.     

 If everything goes according to plan, officials said the pipeline will be in service by the end of 2019. 

On Thursday, we will sit down with one Lewis County man who is fighting to keep the proposed pipeline from being built.  

Read the full story from WBOY-TV West Virginia