Pipeline News with Aidan! #NOSSEP
This past Thursday was the Guilford County Board of Commissioners Meeting (BOCC), located in downtown Greensboro at the Old County Courthouse. Guilford NOSSEP organizers have been attending BOCC meetings since February, encouraging their elected representatives to pass a resolution against the Transco-Williams Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SSEP). This meeting drew the largest crowd yet! Over 24 folks! Nine out of ten of the speaker slots were full for NOSSEP (plus one amazing community member who joined our coalition that night, so basically 10 out of 10!). Our comments were diverse, showing a range of community impacts, opinions, histories, and reasons for caring about this project's effects.
Over two dozen community members show up to voice their opposition to the proposed Transco SSEP!
Guilford County Commissioners heard from three impacted Oak Ridge landowners, an environmental science professor from Greensboro College, three concerned Greensboro residents/parents, and three Greensboro residents who have been a part of the core NOSSEP team since January. Speakers referred to the project as "All risks, no benefits," and urged the commissioners not to bend to Transco's influence. As Theresa Hammond, Oak Ridge landowner, commented: "Don't let them hinder your process."
Greensboro College environmental science professor Sandra Cooke commented that a school newspaper recently reported on the pipeline; she spoke that evening to represent the many concerned students and staff members. She discussed how increased sedimentation from this project will harm Greensboro's clean water and further exacerbate the existing sedimentation and PFAST issues in several of Guilford's watersheds, such as Lake Brandt and Lake Townsend.
Margaret Rowlett, long-time Greensboro community advocate and co-founder of the Guilford Clean Power Now coalition, raised questions from the community, such as "How will [Transco] ensure our waterways stay safe?" and provided each commissioner with a list of questions to ask the Transco-Williams representative they plan to meet with. "Methane is one of the most potent of greenhouse gases."
Chair of the Commissioners, Commissioner Melvin "Skip" Alston, took time after the public comments to thank the NOSSEP attendees and to reinforce that they are meeting with a Transco representative at a work session on May 15th. "Let us know if you have any questions. Concerned community members should send us their questions so we can incorporate them into our discussion... we are trying to address the issue."
The evening was a hopeful one. Community members left proud of themselves, anxious, yet optimistic. For many, it was a testament to the power of community organizing. April Parker, a NOSSEP coalition member who has been a community organizer for fifteen years, stated after the meeting: "What I witnessed today reaffirmed something powerful: people showing up, not just for themselves, but for their neighbors and for people they may never meet. They pray that their words, and the collective strength they bring, will ripple into something real, something lasting." Let's all hope a resolution opposing SSEP from our Guilford County Commissioners is our community's lasting impact.
If you want to learn more about the proposed project and how you can get involved, go to nossep.org and attend the upcoming Guilford County Community Meeting on May 13th at 6:15 pm, located at Church of the Covenant, 501 S Mendenhall St, Greensboro.
As always, this is Aidan wishing community care, light, and love. Take care of yourselves and each other, ~ Aidan Loretz (they/them, she/her) aidan.loretz@gmail.com