This week in ‘The Dirt’—pipeline pressure in Virginia’s scenic Nelson County continues, the deets on a new craft brewery opening up in Morgantown, West Virginia, and controversy over a proposed gun range near Western North Carolina’s famed Linville Gorge Wilderness Area.
Pipeline Pressure Builds
Residents in the Blue Ridge Mountain community of Nelson County, Virginia are up in arms after Dominion Power Company—one of the nation’s largest energy producers—proposed plans to build a 550 mile, 42 inch natural gas pipeline from West Virginia to North Carolina. According to the Friends of Nelson County, “Dominion will have to seize private property through eminent domain, uproot farms and families, and disrupt businesses and lives in their attempt to complete the project.”
Opposition to Dominion’s proposed pipe line project through picturesque Nelson County has been building since August of 2014. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) has expressed his support for the project, but on April 16, Virginia 5th District Representative Robert Hurt contacted the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to request more time for public comment.
New Beer for Morgantown
Chestnut Brew Works started back in April of 2013 as a small operation based in the forests of southern Monongalioa County, West Virginia. This month they opened a new taproom in Morgantown. Head Brewer Bill Rittenour, who studied trees and fungi at WVU, named the brewery after the iconic American chestnut, which was obliterated from the East Coast by an invasive blight in the early 19th century.
Check them out here.
Linville Gorge Gun Range?
A proposed shooting range at the gateway to Western North Carolina’s renowned Linville Gorge Wilderness is drawing scrutiny and protests from residents and the Burke County Tourism Development Authority. The BCTA worries that noise generated by firearms used at the range could distract and ultimately deter hikers from visiting The Gorge. The range would be located near Lake James about 70 miles northwest of Charlotte and would occupy 3 of the Linville Gorge’s 1,300 protected acres. According to a study commissioned by the state of North Carolina, the range could attract as many as 10,800 shooters a year.
Beyond the Blue Ridge
British Snowboarder, Billy Morgan, breaks world tecord with a Quad Cork 1800…
“I’ve been thinking about this for so long, it’s such a relief to have it done,” Morgan told his sponsor Red Bull after pulling off the historic trick. “It could have been cleaner, but I’m still pumped.”
