Virginia Air Board Member Who Approved a Controversial Atlantic Coast Pipeline Permit Has Links to a Dominion Gas Partner

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A member of a Virginia state permitting board who last week approved a highly controversial certification for Dominion’s planned Atlantic Coast pipeline has business ties to a company currently collaborating with Dominion on a related gas project, DeSmog hasย found.

William (Trip) Ferguson joined three other Air Pollution Control Board members to unanimously approve a permit for Dominionโ€™s Buckingham compressor station. The planned station, which will propel the natural gas as it moves through the 600-mile interstate pipeline, will be built in Union Hill, a largely African-American community settled by free blacks and emancipated slaves after the Civilย War.

The plan has sparked a years-long opposition campaign by activists and concerned residents of Union Hill. Last week’s final approval was met by outrage, as protesters โ€” many chanting โ€œShame! Shame!โ€ โ€” accused the governor-appointed board of foisting a noxious infrastructure project onto a reluctant community while ignoring critical environmental justiceย concerns.

Now, a DeSmog investigation raises questions about the degree of Ferguson’s impartiality when approving thisย project.

Natural Gas, Hog Waste, and the Atlantic Coastย Pipeline

Ferguson is senior vice president at Harvey Lindsay CRE, a prominent Virginia commercial and industrial real estate company. One of his clients is meat-processing giant Smithfield Foods, which recently partnered with Dominion to create a new energy business.ย ย 

In late November, six weeks before the air board’s vote, Dominion and Smithfield Foods announced the creation of a joint venture to produce natural gas from hog manure. With an investment of $250 million, the partnership established a company called Align Renewable Natural Gas to capture gas from pig waste and pump it into Dominionโ€™sย pipelines.

At the time of the announcement, Dominion’s CEO Thomas Farrell specifically cited the construction of the Atlantic Coast pipeline as an incentive for the partnership since the gas produced from the manure will, in his words, โ€œinevitablyโ€ make its way through the pipeline, which will run near many of Smithfield Foodโ€™s Virginia hogย lagoons.

Construction map for Atlantic Coast pipeline
A construction map of the Atlantic Coast pipeline, which stretches through West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina. Compressor Station 2 is slated for Union Hill, Virginia. Credit: Atlantic Coastย Pipeline

Shortly before the announcement of the joint venture, anti-pipeline activists spotted Farrell leaving Governor Ralph Northam’s office. Northamโ€™s administration said the meeting was about Dominion’s partnership with Smithfieldย Foods.

During last weekโ€™s air board meeting, Ferguson said he supports the pipeline project โ€œwithout reservation,โ€ citing several economic benefits to the Hampton Roads region.ย ย 

Questions ofย Ethics

Ferguson did not respond to a request for comment, and itโ€™s unclear whether his business ties rise to the level of a conflict of interest according to Virginiaโ€™sย laws.

As Joe Maschman, a legal fellow at Common Cause, a watchdog group which monitors money in politics and government, previously pointed out to DeSmog that Virginiaโ€™s ethics lawsย are general in nature, prohibiting a state employee from receiving money or business opportunities that โ€œreasonably tends to influence him in the performance of hisย officialย duties.โ€

Recusals are required when a personal interest is involved, which is defined by the dollar value of oneโ€™s investment orย interest.

Yet Fergusonโ€™s links to a Dominion business partner are concerning to those opposing the project and who had hoped the air board would not permit theย station.ย 

โ€œMr. Fergusonโ€™s statements at the hearing showed he had not fully considered the impacts to Union Hill and was mainly interested in advancing strategic energy markets for the area heโ€™s from,โ€ said Mary Finley-Brook, a geography professor at the University of Richmond who studies environmental justice and has been active against theย project.

โ€œHis concern for his political jurisdiction is admirable,โ€ added Finley-Brook, who sits on the Virginia Governorโ€™s Advisory Council on Environmental Justice. โ€œHowever, it also may be connected to his personal business interests through economic ties to Smithfield Foods, Virginia Power, and other direct beneficiaries of the Atlantic Coastย pipeline.โ€

The composition of the air board and the personal interests of its members have come under scrutiny of late. Weeks before last weekโ€™s final vote, Gov. Northam stirred controversy when he surprisingly replaced two members of the board who expressed concern over the pipelineโ€™s environmental impacts. Activists viewed the move as Northamโ€™s attempt to tip the vote in favor of Dominion, though the administration claimed the move was merelyย procedural.

Northamโ€™s close relationship with Dominion, one of the nationโ€™s largest utilities and Virginiaโ€™s most powerful corporate player, has come under fire forย years.

Shortly after the replacements on the board, another board member, Roy Hoagland, announced his recusal from the compressor station vote after the environmental nonprofit he works for received funding for forest habitat mitigation work on theย pipeline.

Other Dominionย Links

William Fergusonโ€™s real estate company, Harvey Lindsay, is connected to Dominion in otherย ways.

James Owens, another company broker, lists Virginia Power, a Dominion subsidiary, as a client. The real estate company’s founder and president, Harvey L. Lindsay Jr., formerly served as a director on Dominion’sย board.

The company is also a dues-paying member in two business organizations that have openly supported the Atlantic Coast pipeline, the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce and the Hampton Roads Economic Developmentย Alliance.

In November last year, the Alliance lobbied the City of Norfolk, Virginia, to grant Dominion an easement allowing the pipelineโ€™s route to pass under a nearby lake andย reservoir.ย 

Fergusonโ€™s Early Support for theย Pipeline

Evidence from Fergusonโ€™s recent past suggests heโ€™s been a staunch supporter of the pipeline, even before his appointment to the airย board.

In October 2014, two years before his appointment to the board by former Governor Terry McAuliffe, Ferguson commented on a blog post critical of the then-proposedย pipeline.

William 'Trip' Ferguson comments in support of the Atlantic Coast pipeline on a blog post in 2014
William โ€œTripโ€ Ferguson, whose username links to his company website, commented in support of the Atlantic Coast pipeline on a blog post in 2014.ย 

โ€œPipelines in rural areas are safe. Natural gas will not explode in the atmosphere,โ€ he wrote in response to the post, which called the pipeline projectย โ€œunwise.โ€

โ€œThe sky ainโ€™t falling folks,โ€ Fergusonย added.

DeSmog asked Virginiaโ€™s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) about the vetting of Ferguson to serve on the board and why such a clear supporter of the controversial pipeline wasย appointed.

Ann Regn, a DEQ spokesperson, said: โ€œWe are not aware of any conflicts of interest.โ€ She referred DeSmog to Fergusonโ€™s publicly available financial disclosure. Dominion did not respond to a request forย comment.

All of this still does not assuage the concerns of those opposing the compressor station and overall pipeline project, which has recently been suspended after hitting several legal snags, including the vacating by the courts of a Forest Serviceย permit.

โ€œTheย citizen boards are part of a long-standing tradition in the Commonwealth and pre-appointment vetting must assure the ability of board members to act fairly and free from conflicts of interest on environmental and economic matters concerning Virginia,โ€ said Maryย Finley-Brook.

Main image: Protesters rallying against Dominion’s proposed Atlantic Coast pipeline.ย Credit: Chesapeake Climate Action Network,ย usedย withย permission

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Itai Vardi is a sociologist and freelance journalist. He lives and works in Boston,ย Massachusetts.

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