Environment Guest
Scrolling through University of Maryland news last week, I came across the headline “The University of Maryland Receives $50,000 Grant from Dominion Foundation.” For anyone who is not familiar with the term “greenwashing,” it refers to corporations’ attempts to project an environmentally conscious image in order to improve their reputations. Dominion Resources Inc’s funding of the development of efficient solar-cooling systems at this university is a case in point.
Mike Frederick, vice president of operations at Dominion’s liquefied natural gas terminal in Cove Point, Maryland, stated that “education and the environment have always been important to Dominion and Cove Point, and this project matches up well with our commitment to both.” Representatives from this university’s Center for Environmental Energy Engineering applauded Dominion’s “generous financial support.”
Unfortunately, my experience with Dominion has not been as rewarding.
Dominion is currently constructing a massive $3.8 billion natural gas liquefaction and export terminal in Cove Point, the community I called home for 17 years. Today, I can no longer recognize the neighborhood where I grew up. The sounds of children playing have been replaced by the constant roaring of dump trucks and construction vehicles. The air is filled with clouds of dirt and dust. Cranes tower over the houses, and signs reading “Dominion: No Trespassing” line the entrance to the community. What was once a safe, peaceful neighborhood has been sacrificed to industry.
I spent my entire senior year of high school worrying about the health and safety of my family and neighbors. How would Dominion’s project impact the air quality? What are the chances of a mishap at the facility?
Dominion’s liquefaction project will be one of the first of its kind in the U.S. The hazards of natural gas liquefaction are largely unknown. My community received only vague assurances from Dominion and the local government that the facility would be safe. I lost count of how many public hearings I attended, but one in particular I will never forget. Dominion representatives and out-of-state union workers poured into my high school’s auditorium and responded to the concerns of local residents with yelling and heckling. My community never felt so alone. A few weeks later, my family made the decision to leave our beloved home. We feared the risks that the Dominion project posed to our health and safety were too great for us to stay.
For the past two years, my family and neighbors have tirelessly and courageously spoken out against Dominion’s Cove Point project. This incredibly personal battle has left me with wounds that will never fully heal. As a university student, I have made College Park my new home, but I think about my friends in Cove Point every day. I was truly hurt to learn that the university accepted this grant from Dominion without any acknowledgment of the suffering Dominion has caused my community. Dominion claims to value education but continually refuses to provide honest information to Cove Point residents on the immediate health and safety impacts of its liquefaction project. The university unknowingly provided Dominion with a public relations opportunity that made my community’s struggle a little more difficult.
Communities like mine might not be able to provide big checks, but we need academic institutions like this university to remain objective toward corporations and recognize our voices. I urge professor Yunho Hwang’s research team to visit Cove Point and meet its residents. Communities oppressed by corporations like Dominion need solar technology now more than ever. I sincerely hope this university will remain impartial and use Dominion’s grant money to engineer a better future. Families like mine have paid a heavy price for that money.
