Former Vice President Al Gore meets with Union Hill, VA residents trying to stop compressor station
Former Vice President Al Gore and social justice advocate the Rev. William Barber II met with residents of Union Hill, VA, a rural community about 70 miles west of Richmond that was founded by emancipated slaves after the Civil War.
The community is fighting against a plan to build an Atlantic Coast Pipeline natural gas compressor station in their neighborhood. Compressor stations are used to power pipelines, moving gas through the system. Opponents of the 54,000 horsepower Union Hill compressor station worry that exhaust from the station will hurt low-income and elderly residents.
Proponents say it will boost development in the area. Gore told the 700 people gathered at the meeting that building the compressor station in Union Hill is a “vivid example of environmental racism.”
