Elena Schlossberg – Executive Director elenalouise@hotmail.com Karen Sheehan – Director karensheehan@verizon.net
Jessica Buhl Grove – Director jessicabuhl@gmail.com Rachel Ellis – Director yearofyou2@gmail.com
NOTE: The Coalition to Protect PWC has supporters from a very diverse community. The Coalition is non-partisan. It does not endorse or align with any political party or politician. The Coalition works across party lines to protect the community.
Our mission is to defend the broader community against threats to our quality of life.
The Coalition to Protect Prince William County is a grassroots movement originally formed in 2014 in response to Dominion Energy’s proposal to erect 100-plus-foot-tall transmission line towers and a new substation for a single customer – Amazon Web Services (AWS) – which was establishing a data center campus right outside of Haymarket, Va.
The Coalition is a registered 501(c)(4) corporation. We are a group of volunteers; there are no paid directors. Because we are tax-exempt, all donated funds are dedicated to expenses.
The Coalition is an open partnership of residents, communities, businesses, and nonprofit organizations united to preserve and enhance the quality of life, natural resources, and historical heritage areas in Prince William County. Our areas of residential communities, commercial enterprises, and education and health institutions – surrounded by a Rural Crescent of agricultural, historical, and natural resources – is home to thousands of residents, numerous wildlife species including the bald eagle, and dozens of federal, state, and county protected sites.
The Coalition’s first focus was to resist the threat to homes, health, history, and habitat presented by Dominion Energy’s proposed placement of high-voltage overhead transmission lines through residential communities, historic sites, and natural resource preserves. We believed Dominion Energy and its regulator, the State Corporation Commission (SCC), had a viable and acceptable option in the Interstate 66 “hybrid” route, which served the interests of both residents and power consumers, while also respecting private property and natural preservation. Through our leadership and supporters, we engaged with Dominion, the SCC, our state Delegates and Senators, county leadership, and other stakeholders to ensure the voices of Prince William County residents were heard – and heeded.
HOAs, local businesses, churches, charities, groups and individuals united in the Coalition to protect the culture, history, and environment of our region. On January 12th, 2015, these groups came together to attend a town hall sponsored by Virginia Delegate Bob Marshall, where they shared concerns, and personal stories with county and state officials. Over 1,000 attended.
With this Coalition, the entire Haymarket and Gainesville community came together and said ‘We will not be divided by new routes. We stand united.’”
In 2018, the comprehensive fight the community put forward finally resulted in the Va SCC approving 3.1 miles of the 5.2-mile final route for the Haymarket transmission line to be buried along I-66.
But threats to our area continue, in the form of data centers and more transmission lines and substations to power them; as well as proposals to take thousands of acres from the county’s residential and agricultural areas for industrial uses.
Changes such as these will increase industrial sprawl throughout the county’s rural area, and cause serious adverse impacts to the county’s groundwater, tree cover, and other environmental resources.
The best way to help the Coalition address these areas of concern is by spreading the word, and encouraging your friends, family, and associates to sign up for Coalition alerts. They will receive our emails with updates and, by going to our website, can learn about current issues and how to take effective action.
We need people to volunteer to speak out, wear a t-shirt, and post signs on their property. All of these actions can further spread the word throughout our community on issues affecting everyone. And donations are needed to cover the expenses of our ongoing activities.
Please let us know how else you can contribute, by sending an email to admin@protectpwc.org. We will follow up with you and let you know how you can help the Coalition to protect your community, your home investment, and our quality of life!