25 years ago we came to Wintergreen for the first time. We were stunned by the natural beauty, the peace and quiet, and the cool temperatures throughout summer. It only took us a few months to buy our first home, and now we have been retired here for three years. Over time, we have come to appreciate the rich heritage of Nelson County as we have explored so many parts of it – Crabtree Falls, the Appalachian Trail, the Blue Ridge Parkway and so much more. Nelson County has been booming, with new restaurants, breweries, wineries and so much more to offer. But all this progress is being threatened by the pipeline.
We retired to a small, very peaceful community – Fortune’s Point – and we never thought for a second that Dominion would consider destroying our community by putting a huge, high pressure natural gas pipeline across almost all the properties. But after months of reinforcing that message with Dominion, it is clear – they don’t care. Worst of all, they will run roughshod over hundreds of good, decent people owners in Nelson County and elsewhere just to make a few more dollars. You can call it corporate greed or any number of other things. But at bottom, it’s simple. They just don’t care. We would like to see the pipeline placed on a colocation route, such as where some huge electric transmission lines have already scarred the land. And it definitely will affect our voting decisions. As lifelong Democrats, we always thought the Democrats were the good guys who protected the common people from overreaching corporations. We still hope that’s true. But we’re not so sure.