We, the concerned residents of the Albany Metro Region and our allies across Georgia and the nation, are calling on Governor Kemp and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to take urgent action to stop the operation of Sabal Trail Transmission’s Albany Gas Compressor Station and prevent dangerous air pollutants that are likely to make our community’s severe COVID-19 crisis even deadlier.

The Sabal Trail Pipeline and its Albany compressor station, pumping gas from Alabama through Georgia into Central Florida, provides no benefits to Georgians, and it will unnecessarily put our state, and in particular our communities in the Albany Metro area, at risk.

On Earth Day, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) authorized the Albany Gas Compressor Station to start operating on April 30, 2020, in a predominantly African American neighborhood in Albany, to pump fracked gas along the Sabal Trail Pipeline in the midst of the devastation our community has sustained as a result of the Coronavirus Pandemic. Albany is a global hotspot for the virus, with one of the highest case rates in the nation. As of April 24, 2020, 1,493 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Dougherty County, and 108 people have died.

We are deeply concerned because the coronavirus kills by invading and attacking the respiratory system, and Sabal Trail’s compressor station will release dangerous air pollution known to cause respiratory problems, decrease lung function, and make the lungs more susceptible to infection.

Furthermore, we have become aware that a link has been discovered between air pollution and increased COVID-19 death rates. A study from the Harvard University School of Public Health found that an increase of only one microgram per cubic meter in fine particulate matter is associated with a 15 percent increase in the COVID-19 death rate. The Albany compressor station has the potential to emit 9.14 tons per year of particulate matter. Another study found that exposure to nitrogen dioxide may be one of the most important contributors to fatalities caused by COVID-19. The Albany compressor station has the potential to emit 46.77 tons per year of nitrogen oxides.

We the undersigned citizens of the Albany Metro Area believe that the Albany Gas Compressor Station operating during this pandemic will claim more of our loved ones lives and significantly increase the death rate of COVID-19 in our communities. Sabal Trail Transmission should not be allowed to operate this polluting industrial facility in an environmental justice community and during this public health crisis.

• FERC, we ask that you to act now to stop Sabal Trail’s Albany Gas Compressor Station and reverse your decision allowing this facility to start operating in our community!

Governor Kemp, you declared a Public Health State of Emergency in Georgia in order to protect Georgian’s from COVID-19. As the Governor you have the power and responsibility to take actions "necessary to promote and secure the safety and protection of the civilian population." We the citizens of Albany, GA and our allies implore you to immediately stop Sabal Trail’s Albany Gas Compressor Station and call on FERC to reverse its decision allowing the operation of this facility in our community!

• We request that you use the full extent of your public health emergency powers to stop Sabal Trail Transmission’s Albany Gas Compressor Station from operating.

• We further request that the Georgia Environmental Protection Division suspend the facility's air permit and re-evaluate it in light of these significant new circumstances and new information, including Albany's emergence as a global COVID-19 hotspot and recent studies showing a link between air pollution and COVID-19 death rates.

• Finally, we request that you inform FERC that protecting the health of Georgians is of paramount importance, and that FERC must not authorize Sabal Trail to begin operating the compressor station in Albany during this public health crisis and should reconsider the use of this station.