Daily Archives: April 28, 2017

A week ago, a team won a six-figure esports competition through sheer patience. Obey Gaming, a team competing in H1Z1 King Of The Kill, orchestrated their strategy around not starting fights, opting to wait patiently on the sidelines as the Battle Royale-esque game of survival and slaughter played out. This patience would not only lead to them lasting longer than many other top teams, but winning in the first televised H1Z1 broadcast ever.

This result, however, was leaked well in advance of the airing of the tournament on The CW. It was a taped broadcast, cut down from a live event held a month prior, with the audience all placed under non-disclosure agreements. Much of its intensity and presentation was manufactured in an editing room, and many firefights were shortened or cut to make room for advertisements. It wasnt quite the home run the battle royale esports scene was looking for.

Games like King Of The Kill or PlayerUnknowns Battlegrounds fall under a burgeoning umbrella of battle royale games, named after the movie of the same name. If youve seen Battle Royale or its Western version, The Hunger Games, you get the premise: a discrete island, filled with tools and weapons, and an ever-shrinking field of play. You parachute into the arena with nothing but the clothes on your back, and have to scavenge for tools and become the last man standing using your foraging skills, guile, dexterity and a fair bit of patience.

What this premise leads to is a number of high-intensity moments, where players barely survive close encounters or patiently wait out a match in the body of a car.

Though Battlegrounds is the apparent top-dog at the moment according to Steam numbers, its progenitor H1Z1: King Of The Kill has a much more involved competitive scene. Well-known esports brands like Echo Fox, Cloud9, Counterlogic Gaming and Panda Global all have H1Z1 squads, and The CW recently aired the Fight For The Crown tournament. With $740,572 given out in prize money, theres some level of interest, but the scene is still lacking in a presentation that sheds a proper light on the games best features.

Many esports pride themselves on their strategy, whether its understanding the economics of a Counter-Strike match, the drafts of Dota 2 or League of Legends, or even just knowing your match-ups in fighting games.

Battle royale games offer some level of strategy, in securing certain high-value items like assault rifles and high-quality vehicles (which offer both mobility and cover in a pinch), but with money on the line and one life to live, theres little incentive for teams to seek each other out rather than find a good hole to hide in. H1Z1 team Obey won Fight For The Crown by hiding out for most of the match, picking off teams who were too busy fighting each other and winning through its superior numbers (all five members of Obey managed to stay alive through the entire match).

As one poster on reddit put it, when it comes down to the money aspect everyone plays it safe which makes for a less entertaining experience. I was hoping at least one team would start hunting down other teams immediately. Camping in cabins and trailers are what most streamers hate when other players do it. Seems to be common in tournaments for this game.

A focus on the mechanical skill and action of King Of The Kill, which can lead to incredible moments of emergent gameplay and more interesting broadcasts, but many of those moments got left on the cutting room floor. Highlighting clashes between two teams, the multiple firefights that involve tactics and skill, would have been a welcome change to the broadcast.

Much of this fault is due to the presentation though, as the Fight For The Crown tournament only showed a single match which decided the outcome of the whole tournament. Teams can win or lose due to circumstance, either by dropping onto an unfavorable position from the outset, or being caught in the toxic gas like strong contenders Echo Fox were. Making the best of any situation can be a good metric for player skill, but a single life can lead to better teams falling victim to chance rather than their own misplays.

At the moment, events like Fight For The Crown feel like showmatches, exhibitions put on to prove the games have competitive potential. For more tournaments on the horizon, its a little vague; Daybreak has yet to announce a date for its annual invitational, and no other major tournament is set for the game. King Of The Kill and its battle royale brethren has all the ingredients to provide an exciting esports broadcast, but for now, its still waiting for the right presentation to make that happen.

Link:

Battle Royale Esports Are Still A Work In Progress - Kotaku

Top seed Lucas Pouille booked his spot in the semi-finals of the Gazprom Hungarian Open on Friday as he defeated Martin Klizan 6-4, 6-3 in Budapest.

The Frenchman saved two match points to edge Jiri Vesely in his opening second-round match on Thursday, but had an easier time against Klizan, claiming victory in 84 minutes as he saved five of seven break points.

"I think it was a great match," said Pouille. "It was much better than yesterday. My level is increasing and that's good because tomorrow I know it's going to be a tough one. I'm very happy with my performance today."

The 23-year-old Pouille is coming off his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final showing at last weeks Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters (l. to Ramos-Vinolas) and improved to a 7-1 mark on clay for the season.

Currently at a career-high No. 14 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Pouille is bidding to win his second ATP World Tour title, adding to his victory in Metz last year.

For a place in the final, Pouille will face sixth seed Paolo Lorenzi, who defeated Andrey Kuznetsov 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 33 minutes, fending off a late fightback from the Russian after leading 5-1 in the second set. "I think it was one of my best matches of the year," said Lorenzi. "He was playing really good tennis. I'm very happy about the match."

Pouille leads Lorenzi 2-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, including victory over the Italian last week in Monte-Carlo. Lorenzi is looking to reach his second ATP World Tour final of the season, after finishing runner-up on clay in Quito in February (l. to Estrella Burgos).

In doubles semi-final action, fourth seeds Brian Baker and Nikola Mektic defeated second seeds Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi 6-4, 6-2.

Originally posted here:

Pouille Enjoys Smoother Progress In Budapest - ATP World Tour

Jared Hunter (center) (Jacob Arthur/Alabama Crimson White)

When is progress actual progress and when is it an act of tokenism? Thats the question some have pondered since the election of Jared Hunter as student president at the University of Alabama.

While many praised his victory as a symbol of progressthe 21-year-old junior being only the third black student to win the student government presidency in 54 years since the school began admitting black studentsmany other students, especially black students, were skeptical.

Particularly because Hunter had the backing of the Machine.

A secret society that has long dominated campus politics and social life, the Machine has an infamous history when it comes to race relations.

Officially named Theta Nu Epsilon, the Machine is a 100-year-old secret society made up of a select group of traditionally white fraternities and sororities that has long pulled the strings of campus politics, at times with allegedly coercive tactics. Not only is it a powerful force on the university campus, but it has historically served as a training ground for local and national politicians. Just a few years ago, the elite group was accused of rigging a local school board election to benefit a UA alum.

Thus, while the president of UAs National Pan-Hellenic Council (the governing body of black fraternities and sororities) endorsed Hunter in a campaign video, black Greeks have generally been quiet about his victory.

Shelby Norman, a senior and member of the largest black sorority on campus, Alpha Kappa Alpha, said student elections are just not a priority for Alabamas black Greek-letter organizations, which are more focused on community involvement off campus.

Clearly, though, that wasnt the only reason she and her friends werent out celebrating.

The Machine candidate doesnt make progress. It just shows the Machine continually manipulating, added Norman, who didnt support Hunter because she felt he downplayed the Machines racist past. It was very saddening for the minority community. I was let down.

Hunter has done little press since his election, and declined my numerous requests for an interview. But he went public about the Machines endorsement a week before the election and promised to act independently: The Machines stigma casts a shadow on the history of this university to this day. I wrestled with the dilemmaand eventually realized I had an incredible opportunity. I knew my campaign and my ideas were my own. No matter who chose to support me, I would run on my own terms, he wrote in the school paper, the Crimson White.

That didnt do much to assuage those skeptical of the hoopla around his win. Within the responses of the many Alabama students with whom I spoke, were the echoes of black Americans reactions to political firsts on the national stage: How many times has the election of a black official been heralded as a signal of changeregardless of whether the institution behind the win has shown any intention of tackling the systemic discrimination many African Americans still face?

To paraphrase the title of The Root contributor Michael Arceneauxs essay back in 2014 following the election of South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott and Utahs U.S. Rep. Mia Love: Black wins may be historic, but theyre not (necessarily) progress.

Arceneaux maintained Love and Scott could succeed precisely because they are black faces to political views typically associated with white men.

That may not be the case with Hunter. The first African-American member of UAs chapter of Theta Chi, he carried 54 percent of the vote in the three-candidate race and vowed to foster inclusion and promote transparency in student elections. But in helping elect him, the Machine seems to have continued to employ the tactics that often prevent independent students from succeeding in campus politics by rallying Greek students to support one of their own instead. According to a recent expos by the Crimson White, the Machine threatens to jeopardize the social life of fraternities, sororities and their members if they dont follow the secret societys wishes.

Fitzgerald Mosley is a UA senior and student organizer for the campus civil rights group BamaSits. He was disappointed by the Machines imprint on the new presidents campaign, describing Hunters decision to run with the Machines support as a question mark, adding, It didnt sit right with the community.

And he had a more concrete bone to pick with Hunters election: allegations about campaign violations (not infrequently made against the Machines candidate), which, in Mosleys eyes, should have disqualified Hunter.

Early this year, the UAs Elections Board (pdf) found that Hunters campaign went over the spending limit and paid a $500 tab for students at a kickoff party. On its website, the board also urged students to come forward and give information about the Machine.

The Office of Student Conduct said it is currently investigating Hunter and additional allegations concerning several groups and individuals who may have tampered or interfered with the SGA election process. The universitys Elections Board has cited the Machines endorsement and Hunters failure to complete community service as possible campaign violations, and has urged the Office of Student Conduct to consider all sanctions, including Hunter losing his right to serve.

In a Crimson White article, Hunters campaign manager, Caitlin Cobb, said the UAs Elections Board unfairly targeted her candidate. The number of emails we received from the Elections Board, some totally frivolous, combined with the many times our team was called to appear before them was unlike any [investigation] the University has seen before, she wrote.

A university spokesperson told me that Hunters term has not yet ended and the university cannot speculate on the potential outcomes of future decisions that will be based on future findings.

Black students on campus arent the only ones wondering how much the election reflects any real change in the Machines philosophy. For many students, the election was less about Hunter as a candidate than about the Machines effort to keep up with changing social and political dynamics on campus.

The fact that even the Machine has to run an African American for president speaks about the progress the university has made in the last couple of years, said Josh Shumate, a white student who helps lead a campus watchdog organization that monitors UA elections called the United Alabama Project.

As I helped report in Fusion TVs investigative documentary The Naked Truth: Frat Power, the Machine has a dismal record when it comes to its relations with black Alabama students: from burning crosses, to protesting the election of the first black student government president in the 1970s, to viciously threatening candidates, to fighting student efforts to integrate UAs Greek system as recently as 2014.

The Machine has adapted over the years, especially when its power has been under threat. In 2013, allegations surfaced thattraditionally white sororities were blocking black women from joining. Sorority women were first allowed to join the secret society in the 1970s right after they voted against the Machine candidate and helped to elect the first black student government president. In 2016, the group reportedly supported a white sorority woman for executive office, which students say is very rare, after the Machine candidate lost the presidency once again to an independent African-American student.

In response to years of allegations about discrimination, since 2013, Alabama has developed an action plan, with the assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice, to increase diversity in traditionally white Greek-letter organizations. By fall of 2016, there were 104 black students in white fraternities and sororities. Thats less than 1 percent of the total membership, but more than 16 times the number of black members five years ago.

The change reflects calls for more diversity within the Greek system at other big Greek schools like Vanderbilt (pdf) and Stanford universities. According to University of Connecticut Associate Professor Matthew Hughey, who has studied race relations in America for more than two decades, people of color make up only about 4 percent or 5 percent of Greek organizations membership nationwide.

Hughey is also wary of reading too much social change into Hunters win. I dont know how an elite, secret anti-democratic white power organization backing a black candidate is a sign of progress, he told me. They were the elite of the already elite, and they were used as vehicles to retain power and prestige. They are functioning as they were designed to function.

Hughey said Americans have a tendency to focus on the exceptions, citing the election of the countrys first black U.S. senator, Hiram Revels, in the 1800s. At the time, people claimed that his election to Congress represented the end of racism, he said. [White] people were arguing the same with the election of President Obama, and they are going to do the same with Hunter. You have these black faces in high places without any actual changes in the system.

Similar prognostics about broader change were made when Michael Steele became the first African-American chairman of the Republican Party in 2009.

The discussions around inclusion that Hunters election has sparked go beyond race. While Greek students represent less than 40 percent of UAs undergraduate student body, fraternity and sorority members hold most of the executive and senatorial positions in student governmentmany thanks to the Machines support.

They have an automatic voting bloc that preclude [non-Greek] students from participating, Jordan LaPorta, news editor of theCrimson White, who says Greek power also excludes people from student government on the basis of socioeconomic status.

There is undeniable power in Hunters election, in seeing a black face at the helm of the student body at an institution like Alabama. The Root contributor Andre Perry has written about how having a black president of the United States showed his 5-year-old son that he, too, could become POTUS. Sometimes one person can make a big difference. Obama had the most diverse cabinet in recent history, and issues like criminal-justice reform and racial disparity became central topics for his administration.

And, yet, as the oft-cited Zora Neale Hurston quote goes, All my skinfolk aint kinfolk.

Amanda Bennett, an African-American graduate student who organized anti-discrimination protests in 2015, sais she is willing to give Hunter the benefit of the doubt. She agrees his election is a symbol of change, adding: Only time will tell if its a symbol of progress, and if the Greek system is really adapting to modern times.

Connie Fossi is an Emmy-nominated and award-winning investigative producer at Fusion with special skills in politics, criminal justice and immigration.

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Does a Black Face in a White Place Count as Progress at the University of Ala.? - The Root

Alcoa Corp. (NYSE:AA) reported first-quarter earnings that looked better than they really were. But even after taking out a one-time gain, the global aluminum maker has clearly made important progress on key goals since it separated from Arconic Inc.late last year. Here are some of the things you need to understand from the company's most recent results.

The headline number for Alcoa's first-quarter earnings was $1.21 per share. That was a notable improvement from the loss of $0.68 in the final stanza of 2016, the company's first as a stand-alone company. It was also much better than the pro forma figure of a $1.15 loss in the year-ago period.

Image source: Alcoa Corp.

But the first-quarter number wasn't what it seems because of a one-time gain from an asset sale. Earnings came in at $0.63 a share once adjusted for that. And the fourth quarter, adjusted for one-time items, came in at $0.14 a share. So it was a solid first quarter, helped along by rising aluminum prices, but it wasn't the blowout that it might at first appear to have been. It's reasonable to expect more noise as management navigates through its first full year as a stand-alone company.

That, however, doesn't mean that positive steps aren't taking place, because they are. For example, one of management's key focuses is cost-cutting. On that front, SG&A and research and development expenses fell 20% sequentially from the fourth quarter.

There's likely to be more improvement here, too, because Alcoa has merged six business units into just three. The hope is that it will allow the company to trim costs and increase synergies across the business. It is also shutting eight offices around the world and consolidating those functions into the Pittsburgh office. Management expects to save around $5 million annually with this move. Although the top-line number gets the headline, the little things that management is doing underneath are important as well.

That includes dealing with the company's debt, which is a reasonable 20% (or so) of the capital structure, excluding non-controlling interests. The aluminum maker's cash balance was $800 million, down slightly from the fourth quarter. Clearly, Alcoa's balance sheet is in decent shape and management didn't do anything to change that situation in the quarter. However, the fly in the ointment are the company's employee retirement obligations, which stand at nearly $3 billion combined.

Alcoa is being conservative with debt because it has big pension obligations. Image source: Alcoa Corp.

The company's pension and other post retirement obligations aren't going away anytime soon. So its conservative approach to debt is something you'll want to watch closely. One quarter doesn't make a trend, but it is nice to see that Alcoa is living up to its promise to be careful with its balance sheet. That's particularly true since the first quarter for Alcoa is a seasonally weak one in terms of cash flow.

At the end of the day, there are two real takeaways from Alcoa's first-quarter earnings. The first is that 2017's results are likely to be a little difficult to read because of the late 2016 breakup of "old" Alcoa. But that's not surprising since 2017 is really best looked at as a transition year. The second is that, despite the haze, Alcoa appears to be making progress on the goals it's set for itself, and that is very nice to see. You will, however, want to keep an eye on things to make sure the trend continues.

Reuben Brewer has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Alcoa Corp.'s Earnings Show Progress Toward the Future - Motley Fool

Mario Gotze was diagnosed with metabolic problems in February.

Germany coach Joachim Low has said Mario Gotze is "feeling better all the time" as the Borussia Dortmund midfielder continues his recovery from metabolic problems.

In March, Dortmund confirmed that Germany international midfielder Gotze would not play again this season as he receives treatment for a metabolic disorder.

The 24-year-old was diagnosed with the disorder in February, and Dortmund said he "can start back training in early summer" if he responds well to treatment.

Speaking in Hamburg on Thursday, Low said he had been in contact with Gotze around "two or three weeks ago" and added: "He's feeling better all the time.

"He is getting physician-directed therapy and this has worked pretty well. But he should take all the time he needs and then possibly return in preseason.

"Before the diagnosis, it was always a bit unclear what was wrong with Mario. He trained a lot, he always put in extra shifts, he was very professional.

"It was a relief for him to find a reason. He will be able to cope with a heavy workload again, and he will be able to play again."

Stephan Uersfeld is the Germany correspondent for ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @uersfeld.

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BVB's Gotze is making good progress - Low - ESPN FC

100 days into President Barrows rule, Amnesty International presents a human rights agenda for the country

Commitment to International Criminal Court and release of political prisoners welcomed as major progress

Amnesty calls for repeal of repressive laws, reform of security forces, accountability for past human rights violations and abuses and abolition of the death penalty

The Gambian authorities can make a decisive break from the countrys brutal past by repealing repressive laws, reforming the security services and ensuring accountability for past serious violations of human rights, Amnesty International said today as Gambian President Adama Barrow marks 100 days in office.

Recognizing the major progress made since President Barrows inauguration on 19 January, including the release of dozens of political prisoners and retraction of Gambias withdrawal from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Amnesty International has published a series of recommendations covering 10 areas of reform.

The document, Human rights priorities for the new Gambian government was produced in consultation with Gambian civil society organizations and handed over to President Barrow during a meeting on 31 March with Amnesty International delegates in the capital Banjul. During the meeting President Barrow promised that there would be zero tolerance for human rights violations under his government.

President Barrows first 100 days have included some momentous steps forward for human rights in Gambia, but there remains a huge amount to do in order to make a decisive break with the countrys brutal past

President Barrows first 100 days have included some momentous steps forward for human rights in Gambia, but there remains a huge amount to do in order to make a decisive break with the countrys brutal past, said Alioune Tine, Amnesty Internationals West and Central Africa Regional Director.

Draconian laws, unaccountable security forces and a weak justice system provided the machinery of repression during Yahya Jammehs rule, and the work to reform them begins now. Gambia should also seize the opportunity of becoming the 20th country in Africa to abolish the death penalty.

Amnesty International is also calling on the international community and regional organizations, including donor countries as well as bodies such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, to support Gambia in this long term process of reform through financial support and technical assistance.

Arbitrary arrest and torture

Amnesty International urges President Barrow to ensure that the security services are reformed including disbanding paramilitary groups implicated in previous human rights violations such as the Jungulers and that torture is established as an offence under Gambian law. Under the previous regime, the United Nations described the practice of torture as prevalent and routine and suspected perpetrators were never held to account.

The organization also calls for investigations into allegations of torture, the closure of unofficial detention centres, and access to all detention sites by independent national and international human rights monitors.

Under Yahya Jammeh, so many people were detained unlawfully and tortured. President Barrows government must send a clear signal that the era of illegal detentions, torture and a prison system built to instill fear in the population is over, said Alioune Tine.

Freedom of expression and assembly

Amnesty International is calling for the repeal of a range of draconian laws that have been used to curb the right to freedom of expression in Gambia. They include laws banning criticism of officials and laws prohibiting the publication of false news. Journalists, such as Alhagie Ceesay and Alagie Jobe, were targeted under these laws and hundreds of journalists fled into exile during the Jammeh regime.

The right to peaceful protest should also be enshrined in law, with security forces instructed to avoid the use of force to disperse peaceful gatherings, and offences, such as holding a procession without a permit under the Public Order Act, repealed. Under the previous regime, opposition assemblies were regularly prohibited or dispersed. In April and May 2016, dozens of opposition protestors were arrested after a peaceful demonstration, and in April 2000 thirteen students and a journalist were killed when security forces opened fire on students peacefully protesting.

In his first 100 days President Adama Barrow has already ordered the release of many people imprisoned simply for expressing their opinion. Now his government should ensure that Gambians will always be able to express their opinion or criticism of government without fear of recrimination, said Alioune Tine.

Now Barrow's government should ensure that Gambians will always be able to express their opinion or criticism of government without fear of recrimination

Amnesty International welcomes the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to address Gambias history of extensive human rights violations and abuses, and calls on the authorities to ensure that it is accompanied by a clear prosecution strategy to ensure accountability for serious violations of human rights such as torture and enforced disappearances, including those that Amnesty International documented during Yahya Jammehs regime.

Steps also need to be taken to strengthen the justice system to ensure that international fair trial standards are respected, while the National Human Rights Commission should be made operational as quickly as possible so it can support efforts to ensure accountability and strengthen human rights protections.

Gambians who have been victims of repression over the last 22 years are seeking justice, and it is essential that there is accountability for the human rights crimes of the past. But any investigations and prosecutions must be done in a way that ensures fair trials for those suspected to be involved, and provides a positive example of how justice can be done in this new era, said Alioune Tine.

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Gambia: Progress in first 100 days of Barrow government requires major reform to break with brutal past - Amnesty International

In Silicon Valley, it is unthinkable to introduce a new product that has fewer features, higher cost, and is unusable by millions of existing customers. Thats beyond absurd. The new version of the deeply flawed, Republican and now Freedom Caucus-backed, American Health Care Act makes no improvement on the original draft, and neither attempt to improve healthcare.

It cut services, increased costs to consumers, and made it inaccessible to tens of millions of ordinary Americans. It was the public policy equivalent of asking people to give up their iPhones and return to using Motorola Razrs.

And yet they have no fundamental guiding principles, no overarching ideology that remains consistent between each iteration of the bill. In fact, the only constant in each revision of the bill is the tax cut it would provide to wealthy Americans. Its no surprise they were so secretive about the bill-- they knew that it is unlikely to obtain approval from most Americans. Perhaps some of the 1% would like it. But not us.

We think that it is wrong and regressive to push healthcare reform that takes away services and protections from the American people. Not only that, we think it is bad business to sell people a service that is a worse version of the what they already have.

Though ObamaCare was imperfect it still exemplified progress. It allowed people who had never had access to health insurance before to be insured for the first time and made insurance affordable for the people who need it most: those with pre-existing conditions.

The new Republican bill should have continued the progress of ObamaCare and looked to fix the things that are not working. Instead the bill continues to give tax cuts to those like us who do not need it and now will likely increase even further the number of people who lose their insurance.

Republican backers of the bill should have learned their lesson from the first time the AHCA failed. Instead, they have made the same bad bill even worse.

Congressional Republicans must start being honest with the American people. Their primary goal is to make the wealthiest Americans pay less taxes. They can call it many different things: trickle-down economics, supporting the job creators, and so on. All of this is nonsense. They should just tell the truth: they want to give money to their supporters at the expense of real progress for ordinary Americans.

Real healthcare reform should be innovative and efficient, working to correct the problems in the system and to provide better and more inexpensive care. And most importantly, its main focus should be on improving healthcare, not cutting corners to give us a tax break we dont need.

But it does not look like Republicans have any intention of changing the AHCA into anything that resembles real healthcare reform. It seems like the only real change between the last failed iteration and the newest one is an amendment that effectively allows states to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions. This is disgusting.

We had hoped that this time if they insisted on keeping the bill as regressive as they have that they would call it what it really is: the American Wealth Care Act (AWCA), the a regressive tax cut for the care and feeding of the wealthy.

Rich Boberg is a serial entrepreneur, Boberg co-founded or was an early employee at several startup companies in Silicon Valley. Heis a co-founder and managing partner of Innovation Quest, a nonprofit promoting entrepreneurism for the benefit of universities.

Charlie Simmons has lived in Silicon Valley for 42 years, having worked in defense electronics, commercial lasers, and then almost 10 years at Sun Microsystems. He retired from NetApp, a leading supplier of computer storage, as VP of Corporate Development.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill.

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Silicon Valley entrepreneurs call for progress in healthcare, not just 'reform' - The Hill (blog)

Despite avid opposition from some residents along the route of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, including some Nelson County residents, Dominion executives on Thursday outlined important milestones and progress made on the project.

I am pleased to say the project continues to move forward on all fronts, Diane Leopold, president and CEO of Dominion Energy, said of the $5 billion, 600-mile natural gas pipeline that would cross West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.

In Nelson County, the route crosses 27 miles.

During a teleconference Thursday morning, Leopold said to date, Dominion has completed production on more than 65 percent of the steel pipe that will be used for the project, and the company expects to complete pipe production later this year.

She added Dominion has procured almost 85 percent of the land, materials and services it needs to build the pipeline.

Additionally, Dominion has completed more than 98 percent of land surveys, which has resulted in more than 300 route adjustments to avoid environmentally and otherwise sensitive areas. Dominion also has signed mutual easement agreements with 60 percent of landowners along the route.

Were very pleased with the progress weve made, Leopold said. We expect that progress to accelerate as we get closer to construction.

Leopold cited a favorable draft environmental impact statement, which was released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in December 2016, and a favorable preliminary approval from the U.S. Forest Service for drilling underneath the Blue Ridge Parkway and Appalachian Trail as important milestones for Dominion.

Leopold also briefly talked about support for the project.

Opponents may receive much of the attention, Leopold said. It is their right to speak out. But it is clear that the majority believes this project should and must be built.

Leopold cited bipartisan support in all three states the pipeline would cross, as well as support from labor unions and local governments, as evidence for her statement.

In Nelson County, the board of supervisors voted in 2014, shortly after the project was proposed, to formally oppose the pipeline. Recently, though, the majority of supervisors voted against submitting a letter to FERC that outlined a number of topics opponents in Nelson County believe the draft environmental impact statement did not address.

In addition to federal approval from FERC, which is expected to come in the fall following the release of a final environmental impact statement in June, Dominion must receive permits from the U.S. Forest Service and Army Corps of Engineers, as well as a few state permits, for the pipeline.

Dominions progress update came on the same day a network of opponents voiced specific concerns about mountaintop removal they claim would be associated with construction of the pipeline.

The groups argued during a separate teleconference Thursday that mountaintops along the route would be reduced by 10 to 20 feet, with some slopes being cut by 60 feet.

Those figures are based on calculations made using the National Elevation Dataset from the U.S. Geological Survey and the idea that Dominion would need to clear 125-foot rights of way for construction.

Dominion Spokesman Aaron Ruby called those figures a gross exaggeration of what actually will take place during construction.

According to Leslie Hartz, Dominions vice president for pipeline construction, Dominion will not clear 125-foot rights of way on most mountaintops. Ruby said the company only will need to clear temporary work spaces on a relatively small number of ridge tops to lay the pipe before restoring the terrain.

Despite Hartzs comments, opponents remain unconvinced there wont be significant damage to mountains along the route.

Im absolutely still worried, said Joyce Burton, a Friends of Nelson member and longtime resident of Nelson, during the teleconference. Any material that is unconsolidated will increase the risk of landslides.

Ben Luckett, an attorney with Appalachian Mountain Advocates, said Hartzs statements dont allay our concerns at all, adding they cannot be assured of Dominions intentions when Dominion is allowed by FERC to clear 125 feet for a right of way.

Hartz also addressed concerns from opponents about excess loads of soil removed for work spaces and placement of the pipe. Opponents are worried soil and rock could end up in nearby water bodies.

Hartz said contours of slopes will be restored to their original state, and excess material displaced by the volume of the pipe itself will be used for habitats and access restrictions along those slopes.

Opponents also are concerned about a lack of site-specific information for steep slopes.

Citing information from a Blackburn Consulting Services study commissioned by Friends of Nelson, which looked at soil types at some sites along the route in Nelson, Burton said construction could cause destabilization and increase the potential for landslides.

According to Ruby, Dominion has provided site-specific details for 10 slopes to the U.S. Forest Service, but Dominion was not required to file construction details pertaining to all slopes along the route as part of the draft environmental impact statement.

According to Dominion, site-specific plans will be developed for about 25 locations before construction takes place.

Additionally, Dominion plans to implement a Best in Class Steep Slopes Program for all steep slopes along the route, defined as those with a slope of 30 percent or greater. The program has been thoroughly evaluated by FERC, according to Ruby.

The hazard management process that is part of the program includes hazard identification; characterization, assessment and threat classification; mitigation; and monitoring.

During the teleconference, Hartz said Dominion and its lead construction contractor have more than 200 years of experience building pipelines in mountainous terrains, and Dominion has built more than 400 miles of pipelines through the mountains of West Virginia and Pennsylvania.

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Dominion touts Atlantic Coast Pipeline progress, mountain construction concerns opponents - Lynchburg News and Advance