The Mountain Valley Pipeline is moving forward, and local residents aren’t happy about it.
A polarizing pipeline By Zahra Hirji and Ari Natter
The Mountain Valley Pipeline is moving forward, and local residents aren’t happy about it. You can read and share a full version of this story on Bloomberg.com. For unlimited access to climate news, subscribe!
A polarizing pipeline
By Zahra Hirji and Ari Natter
Practically all new fossil fuel projects become flashpoints in the fight against climate change. Every new coal, natural gas and oil project collides with the scientific reality that the world needs to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to stave off worsening heat waves, floods and wildfires.
But for people on the ground, these projects aren't symbols of global battles — they have tangible impacts on the landscape, the local economy and even residents’ daily routines. This summer, in a highly unusual move, Congress stepped in to fast-track the completion of one such endeavor: the Mountain Valley Pipeline. After years of stop-and-go construction, there’s now a mad dash to finish the natural gas line stretching just over 300 miles from the northern border of West Virginia to southern Virginia.
That’s largely due to one man: West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat, who convinced other legislators and President Joe Biden to greenlight the pipeline as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling.
In Virginia, Steve and Anne Bernard recently watched pipe being laid less than 200 feet from their house. Photographer: Kristian Thacker for Bloomberg Green
Across a largely rural, mountainous area, the pipeline’s 50-foot easement traverses hundreds of bodies of water, crosses fields, plunges into valleys, climbs steep slopes and passes near homes, businesses and at least one school. Along many of the final stretches awaiting completion, churned-up soil and construction equipment signal busy activity.
Outside Greenville, West Virginia, workers are installing pipe under water crossings on a farm belonging to Maury Johnson. In Boones Mill, Virginia, Steve and Anne Bernard watched construction less than 200 feet from their house. People using heavy machinery are still burying pipe on Theresa “Red” Terry’s property in Bent Mountain, Virginia.
Operator Equitrans Midstream Corp. says the project is now approximately 94% finished and will be fully built by year’s end, to carry gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations to customers in the mid-Atlantic and southern US. The company negotiated with landowners for easements to run the line under their properties, and it had the authority to use eminent domain when no agreement could be reached.
For many of the people living and working along the route, construction started years ago — then paused. In some cases, the landowners played a role in stoppages, with some legally challenging the company’s use of eminent domain and others perching in trees in the path of construction. Multiple environmental groups also challenged the project’s federal agency authorizations. The pipeline is now five years behind schedule, with a budget that has swelled from $3.5 billion to $6.6 billion.
Mountain Valley opponents continued to bring new legal challenges this summer, briefly holding up construction. In response, Equitrans filed a lawsuit against two environmental organizations and 41 people who protested the pipeline, alleging they are disrupting its progress and asking for $4 million in damages. Officials at the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration in mid-August ordered the project owner to conduct a series of safety inspections along the route.
“The safe, responsible construction and operation of MVP remains our top priority,” says Natalie Cox, an Equitrans spokeswoman.
A sign supporting Red Terry hangs on a tree in her daughter’s yard in Brent Mountain, Virginia. Photographer: Kristian Thacker
Local opposition also lingers. People living along the pipeline’s route raise concerns about the project’s environmental effects, especially on local water resources; the potential of the pipe to blow up when gas is running through it; and the impacts of construction on the natural landscape. Bent Mountain is covered in creeks and wetlands, Terry points out. Everywhere the pipeline company has dug, “they hit water.”
“Pipelines are recognized as by far the safest means for transporting the energy necessary to power modern life,” says Cox. The company notes that more than 300,000 miles of natural gas pipelines have been built and are operating across the US.
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