by Jackie Nunnery
WHITE STONE—It has been roughly a year since Dominion Energy began construction on the underwater transmission line project in the Rappahannock River and in the shadows of the Robert O. Norris Jr. Memorial Bridge.
However, the work has not gone entirely to plan, according to a new permit application Dominion has submitted to the Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC). Among the requests, the utility company is seeking an after-the-fact permit for the current location of work platforms that were not placed according to plans submitted during the original permitting process.
The temporary platforms, which are used to work on the pipes and cables prior to installation, were located closer to shorelines and oyster beds on both sides of the river: 1,160 feet on the Middlesex side and 310 feet on the Lancaster side.
According to Dominion, the change in platform location was due to a revision in the plans that was not updated with the VMRC.
“We regret the inadvertent and unfortunate oversight which led to this situation,” said media relations manager Rayhan Daudani. “There was a discrepancy between our initial construction plans and permitting submission with the final construction layout when a contractor was selected, and the permit details were not updated. We are reviewing our procedures to help ensure this kind of error does not occur in the future.”
Daudani also said that because the platforms were smaller than originally permitted, “they remain at a safe distance from important riverbed resources and…
