Remarks of
Pamela F. Faggert
Vice President & Chief Environmental Officer, Dominion
at EnviroFest in Canton, Ohio
March 19, 2002
Thank you, Dr. McGrath… and thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
I’m really glad to be here – and honored to be the keynote
speaker for this year’s EnviroFest.
This is my first trip to Canton. Of course, my husband and
son hope I’ll return to Richmond with souvenirs from the Football Hall of Fame.
Personally, I’m more interested in sampling some of this
wonderful ice cream. Time permitting, maybe I’ll do both.
And believe me, if “Taggart” is the worst name I’m ever called,
I’ll feel fortunate – especially since it makes people think of ice cream. Thank
you so much for the gift certificates. I’ll put them to good use in the very
near future.
To prove there are no hard feelings, I have the pleasure
of announcing that Dominion is going to contribute thirty thousand dollars toward
construction of a new environmental laboratory on the Stark State campus.
I would like to ask Robert Nagy, Dominion East Ohio’s director
of gas operations in the Canton area, to join me for a moment as we present
Dr. McGrath a check to help with the new environmental lab at Stark State.
[CHECK PRESENTATION]
We’re making this donation as part of Stark State’s current
capital campaign – Changing Lives, Builidng Futures – which will help the school
keep pace with today’s fast changing economy.
We hope this financial boost will supercharge the campaign…
and inspire other businesses to step up and support this worthy cause.
Dominion has long been a supporter of educational programs
whose main focus is math, science and engineering – core skills that play a
key role in our business.
Like all of Corporate America, we have a vested interest
in achieving excellence in education. Business is education’s top customer after
all. If there’s weakness in our schools, that weakness will show up later in
our offices, research labs and power stations.
The business community increasingly needs intellectual firepower.
We need employees with fresh ideas and perspectives – ideas that when implemented,
will help grow our business while minimizing environmental impacts.
The new environmental lab will give students at Stark State
hands-on training in a variety of areas affecting the environment – from health
and safety concerns to natural resource analysis to pollution prevention.
As Dr. McGrath indicated in his introduction, Dominion East
Ohio has been an active partner with Stark State.
In our previous incarnation as East Ohio Gas, we were a longstanding
supporter of EnviroFest... we helped upgrade the school’s Advanced Technology
Center... and we created a Fire Science Scholarship Endowment as well.
A number of Dominion East Ohio employees have served on the
college’s advisory and academic boards. Others have been adjunct faculty members.
The partnership we have with Stark State is a good example
of the kind of cooperation business and education must have if we are to meet
the economic and technological challenges of the 21st Century.
We offer our thanks to Stark State for its commitment to
excellence – and our best wishes for a very successful capital campaign.
My topic this morning is energy and the environment. More
specifically, how Dominion goes about integrating its business mission with
responsible stewardship of the environment.
Companies that make energy, move energy, manage and market
energy inevitably impact the natural world.
At Dominion, our companies are active along the entire energy
production and delivery chain:
We explore for and extract oil and natural gas from an
area that extends from western Canada to the Gulf of Mexico;
We deliver natural gas to customers through a 7,600-mile
pipeline system that runs from the Midwest to the Northeast;
We operate the nation’s largest natural gas storage system
– which, by the way, includes a large underground storage field here in Canton
that’s virtually under our feet;
We operate a large fleet of nuclear, oil, coal, gas-fired,
and hydroelectric power generation facilities;
We provide gas and electric service to about four million
retail customers in five states; and
We trade and market the various energy forms I mentioned
to wholesale customers who seek our help in managing their energy risks and
supply needs.
As Dominion’s chief environmental officer, it’s my job to
see that we run our various businesses in full compliance with all relevant
environmental laws and regulations.
Often, we go beyond the requirements of law. We do so when
sound science and economic sense dictate it. Our overall approach is to work
for long-term solutions to environmental concerns that result from the production
and delivery of energy.
As you know, energy provides the foundation for economic
prosperity and improved living standards around the world.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the global demand
for energy is expected to climb almost 60 percent by the year 2020.
Significant amounts of new generating capacity will have
to be built to keep pace. Older, less efficient power facilities will have to
be replaced. Many billions of dollars will have to be invested in energy technologies
– existing and new forms.
For example, about two years ago, Dominion created a special
group within our company. We gave the group a broad mission: to evaluate and
integrate new energy technologies into our strategic plans and to enhance customer
service.
We’re currently looking at things like distributed generation,
fuel cells, automated meter reading and ways to improve our compliance with
environmental regulations.
We’re also building state-of-the-art electric generating
facilities in various locations in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions – including
one in Wood County and another in Muskingum County, Ohio.
Those of you studying environmental technology or other disciplines
at Stark State could one day be among those working to develop new forms of
energy that are cheaper and cleaner than those we use today.
I’m in the optimists’ camp when it comes to the potential
for new energy forms. But I’m also a realist. It typically takes 20 to 30 years
to bring a new technology from the laboratory to the marketplace.
So we need to continue working to maximize the energy sources
at our disposal today – coal, oil, nuclear, natural gas, hydro and other renewables.
All have a significant role to play in maintaining a diverse energy mix.
It’s very likely that at least some of you students at Stark
State will move on to become players in that important mission.
Corporations, like individuals, have distinct personalities.
In the corporate world, we typically refer to it as a “culture,” which is grounded
in a set of shared beliefs and values.
At Dominion, one of those beliefs is that energy, the economy
and the environment are highly interdependent, not irreconcilably opposed.
It’s interesting that our view was shared by John Sawhill,
the late president of The Nature Conservancy. As you probably know, The Nature
Conservancy is an environmental organization with an excellent track record
of working effectively with the private sector.
Mr. Sawhill once gave a speech to The Business Council in
my home state of Virginia. He told the audience that our nation would never
succeed in cleaning up the environment without sustained real growth in per
capita income.
What Mr. Sawhill was saying is that a healthy environment
and a healthy economy go hand in hand.
That makes perfect sense when you think about it.
Any business that is not working for a healthy environment
is undermining its own basis for long-term success.
Why?
Because environmental quality supports the development of
new enterprises and ensures the future well-being of the communities where our
customers – and employees – live and work.
On the other hand, healthy economic growth – which means
good jobs, innovation and improved living standards for all – generates private
sector resources. A strong economy is better equipped to address ecological
concerns and work for development that is environmentally sustainable.
An understanding of this interdependence lies at the heart
of Dominion’s commitment to help create strong communities and protect natural
resources at the same time.
Part of this commitment comes from our roots – our culture,
if you will – as a public service corporation. We provide a vital need – energy,
the lifeblood of society.
So it’s in the nature of our business to operate in a way
that reflects the essential principles of sustainable development – emphasizing
whole systems, long-range planning, public involvement in decision making, and
partnerships with civic organizations, governmental bodies and educational institutions,
such as Stark State.
We work hard to build and nurture those partnerships. Experience
has taught us a valuable lesson: Finding solutions to shared concerns is best
achieved by working with groups whose skills and resources complement our own.
In the environmental arena, we look for partners who share
our belief that economic growth and environmental quality are mutually supportive.
Cooperation between organizations grows when values are similar
– and when trust and mutual respect anchor the relationship. When these qualities
exist between partners, it’s amazing how the glass becomes half full, rather
than half empty. And how obstacles begin to look like opportunities.
About 18 months ago, Dominion saw an opportunity to work
with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Our mutual goal was to achieve
major environmental improvements at our Virginia and West Virginia coal stations.
In the most ambitious and far-reaching environmental commitment ever made by
a Virginia corporation, we agreed to invest more than one billion dollars over
a 12-year period to improve air quality in Virginia and West Virginia.
When the agreement with EPA is finalized, Dominion’s coal-fired
power stations will achieve significant reductions in emissions. It also means
those stations – many of which are in rural areas – will continue to play an
important economic role in their communities, producing not only electricity,
but significant tax dollars and jobs as well.
When we build new power facilities to meet our customers’
growing energy needs, we design them to minimize environmental impacts.
At one such site in southern Virginia, we created a significant
wetlands program, turning fallow cropland into a freshwater marsh teeming with
wildlife and aquatic plants.
We encourage our employees to get into the act as well.
Last October, for example, more than 500 Dominion employees
from Texas to Connecticut organized and carried out 13 different environmental
projects. They joined forces to refurbish park trails, plant trees at inner
city schools and upgrade an environmental education center.
Their efforts were richly rewarded by an outpouring of community
support and recognition. Here in northeastern Ohio, Dominion is a partner in
the “Clean Cities” program of the Earth Day Coalition.
“Clean Cities” was created by the U.S. Department of Energy
to support the goals of the Clean Air Act by expanding the use of alternative
fuels in cars and trucks.
Dominion East Ohio currently has a fleet of more than 500
vehicles fueled by natural gas – about 35 percent of the total. Natural-gas
vehicles produce far fewer pollutants than their gasoline or diesel-fueled counterparts.
In addition to using them in our own business, we advise
our customers on ways they might use natural gas as an alternative to gasoline
or diesel fuels in their fleet operations.
Our company also sponsored the first EarthFest at the Cleveland
Zoo in 1990. Since then, EarthFest has become Ohio's largest environmental education
event – and one of the premier Earth Day celebrations in the nation.
We value our partnerships with the Earth Day Coalition and
others who work for greater community awareness of important environmental issues.
I once read that when the Iroquois Indian tribe was faced
with a decision, the tribal elders always asked, “How does it affect seven generations
in the future?”
That kind of long-range focus is precisely what’s called
for today as society attempts to balance economic growth with environmental
integrity.
The answer, as I’ve said, lies in effective public and private
cooperation. This is not a given – especially in the complex world we live in,
where different interests often work at cross purposes.
Real cooperation requires a great deal of hard work – and
a lot of trust. But it’s the only way to make the world work for 100 percent
of humanity.
Dominion is very proud to be one of Ohio’s corporate citizens.
And we stand ready to work with all parties interested in promoting the well-being
of our communities… and the responsible use of our natural resources.
I hope I’ve given you some insight into Dominion and how
we view corporate environmental responsibility. It’s been a real pleasure for
me to join you this morning, and I wish you all a great day at EnviroFest.
