PG&E received a maximum sentence for the 2010 San Bruno natural gas pipeline explosion. Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0
A striking report has revealed that 90 percent of the 137 interstate pipeline fires or explosions since 2010 have drawn no financial penalties for the companies responsible.
The article from E&E News reporter Mike Soraghan underscores the federal Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration's (PHMSA) weak authority over the fossil fuel industry for these disasters.
<p>
The government levied a mere $5.4 million in fines for the 13 pipeline explosion and fire cases in the last eight years, the analysis found.
</p><p>
"That's less than one day of profits for one major pipeline company,
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/transcanada" target="_self">TransCanada</a>. It's $2 million less than what [TransCanada CEO Russ Girling] made last year," Soraghan explained in a <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeSoraghan/status/1063401798176788480" target="_blank">tweet</a>.
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</p><div id="86d0b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="TNSC001576662637"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1063401798176788480" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">137 fires and explosions on interstate pipelines since start of 2010. $5.4 million in fines levied by feds at… https://t.co/o4zuqObVlV</div> — Mike Soraghan (@Mike Soraghan)<a href="https://twitter.com/MikeSoraghan/statuses/1063401798176788480">1542369720.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
One of the country's largest natural gas pipeline accidents—the 2010 San Bruno, California pipeline explosion that resulted in eight deaths—fell under state jurisdiction rather than PHMSA. California authorities imposed a record $1.6 billion fine against Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E).
</p><p>
Although serious pipeline incidents are relatively rare—at least when you consider how much natural gas is transported every day by the country's
<a href="https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/index.php?page=natural_gas_pipelines" target="_blank">3 million miles</a> of mainline and other pipelines—it's little solace to the people who have suffered from pipeline accidents.
</p><p>
Citing PHMSA data, the
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/an-old-problem-aging-pipelines-lead-to-deadly-explosions/2018/09/14/42c709b2-b865-11e8-ae4f-2c1439c96d79_story.html" target="_blank">Washington Post</a> reported that more than 300 people have died and 1,200 have been injured due to natural gas pipeline incidents in the last 20 years—and the nation's aging gas distribution network further increases these risks.
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</p><div id="23477" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5S59DN1576662637"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1025124144889966592" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">7 Hospitalized After #Pipeline Explosions in #Texas https://t.co/5sq000oE4N @PipelineandGas @keystonexI @PriceofOil</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1025124144889966592">1533243616.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
But new gas pipelines explode, too. TransCanada's Leach XPress project, which was placed in-service on Jan. 1, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/transcanada-pipeline-explodes-west-virginia-2576042392.html">exploded in Marshall County, West Virginia</a> in June. A 24-inch natural gas line, owned by Texas-based <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/energy-transfer-partners" target="_self">Energy Transfer Partners</a> and its subsidiary <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sunoco" target="_self">Sunoco</a>, exploded in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/energy-transfer-pipeline-explodes-pennsylvania-2604024050.html">Beaver County, Pennsylvania</a> in September a week after it was activated.
</p><p>
<span></span>These risks have prompted calls from environmentalists and concerned citizens to halt new fracked gas projects such as the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/atlantic-coast-pipeline">Atlantic Coast Pipeline</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/mountain-valley-pipeline">Mountain Valley Pipeline</a>, which have both lost key permits in recent weeks.
</p><p>
<span></span>"Those who disregard the public's widespread opposition to fracked gas pipelines seemingly always point to how safe they are and closely watched they'll be. Nothing could be further from the truth," the <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/home" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a>'s Beyond Dirty Fuels campaign director Kelly Martin said in an <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2018/11/icymi-90-all-gas-pipeline-blasts-draw-no-fines" target="_blank">online statement</a> in response to the E&E News article.
</p><p>
"We know we can't expect corporate polluters to look out for our health, but we should be able to count on our enforcement agencies to protect us. Stories like these show exactly why we should never build another fracked gas pipeline, especially when clean, renewable energy sources are abundant and affordable," Martin concluded.
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</p><div id="b8da9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="P4BFI11576662637"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1040634048077606912" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Pipeline in Hurricane Florence’s Potential Path Poses Added Danger https://t.co/73UAxfFiQS</div> — The YEARS Project (@The YEARS Project)<a href="https://twitter.com/YEARSofLIVING/statuses/1040634048077606912">1536941465.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Appalachian Trail Conservancy screenshot
By Courtney Lindwall
Communities along the 300-mile proposed route for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) heard some good news this week. On Tuesday, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously voted to vacate a permit required by the Clean Water Act, which was previously issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The ruling stated the Army Corps lacked the authority to substitute one type of construction for another for the natural gas pipeline, which would crisscross rivers and other sensitive aquatic ecosystems hundreds of times between northern West Virginia and southern Virginia.
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="608d867c35e4e1ffe7025a29dcbf103a"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/nrdc.org/videos/10156166532779454/" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div>
<p>The case—brought by the <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a>, the <a href="http://wvrivers.org/" target="_blank">West Virginia Rivers Coalition</a>, and other citizen organizations—does not kill the project outright, but it is a significant roadblock.<br></p><p>MVP is <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/controversial-new-pipelines-may-slice-through-southeast" target="_blank">one of two</a> pipelines (the other is the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/atlantic-coast-pipeline">Atlantic Coast Pipeline</a>) that have drummed up <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/onearth/virginians-fly-flags-resistance-fight-against-two-pipelines" target="_blank">fierce public backlash</a> across the region. Concerned residents have been peacefully protesting the projects for months, sometimes among the trees they would be helping to save.</p>
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</p><div id="4e0e7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="G0N0P81576662507"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1047199355592232961" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Day 28 and we're #stillhere ... this picture was taken a couple days ago and is of Nettle watching loggers hike pas… https://t.co/IIK0JzkNpD</div> — Appalachians Against Pipelines (@Appalachians Against Pipelines)<a href="https://twitter.com/stopthemvp/statuses/1047199355592232961">1538506757.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-watch/">Trump</a> administration <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/6-ways-mountain-valley-and-atlantic-coast-pipelines-would-be-bad-virginia" target="_blank">hastily approved</a> both pipelines <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/ferc-commissioner-dissents-33ed185fed9d/" target="_blank">late last year</a>, ignoring the <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/threats-to-water-quality-from-mountain-valley-pipeline-and-atlantic-coast-pipeline-water-crossings-in-virginia_2018-02-26.pdf" target="_blank">serious risks</a> a spill would pose to the region's watersheds, such as the Chesapeake Bay. Between the two projects, more than <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/6-ways-mountain-valley-and-atlantic-coast-pipelines-would-be-bad-virginia" target="_blank">315 acres of critical wetlands</a> are at stake, many of which drain into Virginia's Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. The extra sediment that construction would kick up would also harm fish and other aquatic life.<br></p><p>Tuesday's decision isn't the first time the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has <a href="https://www.virginiamercury.com/2018/08/06/fourth-circuit-strikes-again-atlantic-coast-pipeline-permit-vacated/" target="_blank">pushed back</a> against the Trump administration's <a href="https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/wv_troubled_transition/regulators-change-the-rules-to-ease-pipeline-approval/article_34473938-91e4-556e-bc36-12ecb4a1fb4e.html" target="_blank">fast-track approval process</a> for environmentally questionable projects. It also <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/win-court-pulls-key-permit-massive-and-dirty-atlantic-coast-pipeline" target="_blank">pulled a key permit</a> for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in May after finding that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to set clear and adequate limits on its threats to the environment and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species">endangered species</a>.</p><p>The court will soon issue an opinion to more thoroughly explain its decision, but the pipeline builders are already saying they're looking for a workaround. So Virginians, keep fighting the good fight, and call on your governor, <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/experts/amy-mall/northam-must-act-protect-clean-water-pipeline-threats" target="_blank">Ralph Northam</a>, to block the pipeline once and for all.</p>
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</p><div id="a29ed" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="35TM7C1576662508"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="988534265657876480" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">With Treetop Protest, 61-Year-Old Red Terry Leads Fight Against Mountain Valley Pipeline https://t.co/kvIkoZQL7k… https://t.co/BVNFojO1fv</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/988534265657876480">1524519909.0</a></blockquote></div>
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EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
WDBJ7 Screenshot / NOAA
By Barbara Gottlieb
As Hurricane Florence churns menacingly toward the Mid-Atlantic coast, residents of South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia hold their breath, wondering where the massive storm surge, howling winds and torrents of rain will hit hardest.
<p>More than 300 miles inland, southwest Virginia residents may also face dangerous flooding, and some worry that Florence may exacerbate the threats from a different, manmade hazard: the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP).</p><p>Hurricane Florence is projected to be an "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2018/09/11/hurricane-florence-watches-posted-as-extremely-dangerous-florence-churns-toward-carolinas/?utm_term=.88407086d5a0" target="_blank">extremely dangerous</a>" storm, poised to inflict life-threatening impacts on low-lying coastal communities—and it may also dump vast quantities of rain over a limited area after making landfall, catastrophic rainfall and flooding as Hurricane Harvey did last year to Houston, Texas. Forecasters don't know where such flooding will occur, but one possible target is the Appalachian Mountains, including mountainous southwest Virginia—the site of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP).</p><p>The pipeline would carry fracked methane gas from West Virginia into Virginia, where it will connect with an existing pipeline system. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that accelerates climate change, and extracting methane using fracking utilizes complex mixes of chemicals, many known to be toxic, contaminating millions of gallons of water as well as emitting dangerous air pollutants.</p><p>Residents along the route have protested the loss of private property and destruction of treasured places, but the pipeline company has secured the right of eminent domain and has so far proved unstoppable. Along its 303-mile route, a swath 125 feet wide is now being clearcut; trenches are being opened; pipes 42 inches in diameter are being laid. This heavy-construction scar will through farms and national forests, up and down steep mountain slopes, even across the Appalachian Trail.</p><p>Where the pipeline crosses steep mountains, erosion is a grave hazard. Locals fear that sediment will choke local streams and rivers, damaging the water sources of cities like Salem and Roanoke, VA as well as private wells and springs serving rural homes. Clearing land and digging trenches has already muddied local streams, choked off intermittent streams, and caused a mudslide that closed a local road, despite erosion control measures taken by the pipeline company. Heavy rainfall poses a particular threat.</p><p>The geology of southwest Virginia magnifies the danger. Much of the land is karst, a porous limestone that has eroded over time, producing sinkholes, caverns and underground channels. Should the ground sink, pipes could buckle into underground caves. Heavy rainfall increases the threat.</p><p>Now, with Florence on its way, residents and developers alike worry about what may happen if the hurricane drops torrents of rain. Construction on the MVP was temporarily halted on Tuesday, and the pipeline company said it was focusing on steps to maintain erosion and sediment controls. However, such controls have failed repeatedly in the face of normal rainfall events.</p><p>Anti-pipeline activist Tina Smusz, a retired Emergency Medicine physician who has lived in the region's mountains for 33 years, is monitoring conditions. She notes, "If we have as much rain as they're predicting, we're expecting landslides. We've already had one road closed by eight inches of mud washing down from a worksite. And that was not an extraordinary rain."</p><p>"We have bare soil and denuded slopes all along the pipeline corridor," she added. "Trees, brush and vegetation have been removed, tree roots have been pulled out. So you're looking at highly erodible soil expanses and the danger of massive erosion on our slopes."</p><p>In addition, Smusz worries about the impact that erosion would have on buried pipes once gas is flowing through the line: "Those pipes may be exposed as the soil over them is churned off when we have torrential rain. That could lead to pipeline ruptures, with the pipe buckling on itself" as the supporting soil under the pipe is washed away.</p><p>If this were to happen, it could lead to an explosion and intense fire. That's not just theoretical: A natural gas pipeline <a href="https://triblive.com/local/regional/14064921-74/early-morning-pipeline-blast-forces-evacuations-in-beaver-county" target="_blank">exploded</a> in a massive fireball in Beaver County, Pennsylvania less than a week ago, on Sept. 10, a mere seven days after the pipeline went into operation. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette <a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/local/west/2018/09/10/gas-explosion-in-center-township-Beaver-County/stories/201809100067" target="_blank">reported</a> that "while an investigation is underway, officials believe a landslide may have ruptured the line." The cause of the landslide was not reported.</p><p>With those potential risks weighing on their minds, Virginians are watching and waiting to see what harms Hurricane Florence will bring to their neighborhoods and their communities.</p><p> <em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/09/13/pipeline-hurricane-florences-potential-path-poses-added-danger" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><em></em></p>
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Signs put up as part of a protest against the Mountain Valley Pipeline near Bent Mountain, Virginia. Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post / Getty Images
On Friday, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ordered work stopped on the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline that would carry fracked natural gas along a 303-mile route from West Virginia to Virginia, Reuters reported.
<p>The order is the consequence of a legal victory for pipeline opponents July 27, in which three federal appeals judges revoked two permits for the pipeline to cross the Jefferson National Forest, ruling that the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management had not properly reviewed the project before issuing the permits, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/federal-judges-revoke-permit-for-pipeline-saying-impact-on-national-forest-in-va-not-fully-reviewed/2018/07/27/9cbb3904-91d0-11e8-b769-e3fff17f0689_story.html?utm_term=.6cb1b366ff5c" target="_blank">The Washington Post reported</a>. The judges ordered the agencies to redo the permits.</p><p>"Should the agencies authorize alternative routes, (Mountain Valley) may need to revise substantial portions of the project route across non-federal lands, possibly requiring further authorizations and environmental review," FERC said in explaining its decision to halt construction, Reuters reported.</p><p>The<a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/" target="_blank"> Sierra Club</a>, one of the environmental groups that brought the suit against the pipeline, applauded the FERC's decision. </p><p>"We have said all along that we can't trust polluting corporations to protect our water and we're relieved to see construction temporarily halted along the entire route of the MVP," Sierra Club senior attorney Nathan Matthews said in a <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2018/08/ferc-orders-stop-all-construction-fracked-gas-mountain-valley-pipeline" target="_blank">statement</a>. "This order is a victory for everyone who values clean water and a wake-up call for those who think they can put profits over people. There is no right way to build these dirty, dangerous fracked gas pipelines and we will continue to fight them until construction is stopped permanently."</p><p>Natalie Cox, spokesperson for EQT Corp., the company leading construction on the pipeline, told Reuters in an email that the company "respectfully disagrees with the breadth of the August 3 stop work order."</p><p>"We will continue to work closely with all agencies to resolve these issues and look forward to continuing the safe construction of this important infrastructure project," Cox said.</p><p>Opponents of the Mountain Valley Pipeline have been fighting it with a combination of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/mountain-valley-pipeline-protesters-2571084795.html" target="_self">tree sits</a> and lawsuits. </p><p>In June, the FERC announced that the pipeline <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/mountain-valley-pipeline-to-halt-construction-2581450004.html" target="_self">had to stop construction</a> more than 591 streams and wetlands in West Virginia following another appeals court decision in favor of environmental groups. </p><p>Opponents hope a mass of legal victories can stop the project all together, and shine a light on an FERC approval process that goes too easy on developers. </p><p>"We hoped this case will put a brake on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission which is running roughshod over the environmental planning process," <a href="https://wilderness.org/" target="_blank">Wilderness Society</a> conservationist Hugh Irwin told The Washington Post of the lawsuit that led to the current stoppage, to which his organization was a party. "Significant environmental concerns were brushed aside and inadequately analyzed," he said.</p><p>The Mountain Valley Pipeline is seen by opponents as a particularly egregious example of a project that ignored environmental and community concerns. </p>"Quite frankly, Mountain Valley Pipeline has become a good example of bad energy development," <a href="https://appalachiantrail.org/" target="_blank">The Appalachian Trail Conservancy</a> said in a <a href="http://appalachiantrail.org/home/conservation/advocacy/mountain-valley-pipeline" target="_blank">statement</a>. "Currently the steep mountainsides near Roanoke are being carved, gashed and ripped up. Unusually heavy rainfall this year has, from when the earthmovers first fired up, exposed the recklessness of this pipeline developer," they wrote.
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Court Orders Controversial Pipeline to Halt Construction Over West Virginia Streams and Wetlands
26 June 2018
Energy
The Greenbrier River in West Virgina is one of the waterways protected by a court order halting work on some parts of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Tim Kiser / GNU Free Documentation License
In a reprieve for the waterways of West Virginia and the communities that depend on them, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said in a document on Monday that EQT Midstream Partners would halt work on the parts of its controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) that cross 591 streams and wetlands in the state, Reuters reported.
<p style="">In December, the Army Corps of Engineers had issued the 303 mile <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines" target="_self">pipeline</a>, which would carry fracked <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/natural-gas" target="_self">natural gas</a> through West Virginia and Virginia, a Nationwide Permit 12, a general permit for waterway disruption by utility line construction that does not require environmental review.</p><p style="">But on Thursday, the 4th U.S. Court of Appeals sided with environmental groups including the <a href="http://www.sierraclub.org/" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a> who had argued for a halt in construction, saying that the construction timelines proposed by the pipeline's makers went beyond the time allowed by the general permit, <a href="http://wvpublic.org/post/mountain-valley-pipeline-construction-partly-halted-west-virginia#stream/0" target="_blank">West Virginia Public Broadcasting</a> reported.</p><p style="">"Putting the breaks on in-stream construction activity for the Mountain Valley Pipeline while the court performs its full review not only makes sense, it is also the only just outcome for communities directly impacted by this destructive project," <a href="http://appvoices.org/" target="_blank">Appalachian Voices</a> Virginia Program Manager Peter Anderson said in a statement published by the <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2018/06/breaking-4th-circuit-stays-essential-permit-for-fracked-gas-mountain-valley" target="_blank">Sierra Club</a> Thursday. </p><p style="">Environmentalists also challenged the legitimacy of issuing sweeping permits like Nationwide Permit 12 to projects like the MVP. </p><p style="">"Today's decision shows once again that the Nationwide Permit 12 cannot be used as a one size fits all approach for dirty and dangerous pipelines that pose serious threats to our communities and clean water," Sierra Club Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign Director Kelly Martin said Thursday.</p><p style="">Under section 404 of the Clean Air Act, general permits like Nationwide permit 12 can be granted, but states can also add additional regulations to those permits. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection requires that pipelines finishing building across streams within 72 hours. However, environmental groups argued that MVP's documents showed that construction over the Elk, Gauley, Greenbrier and Meadow rivers would take 4-6 weeks. </p><p style="">The court order halts construction over streams and wetlands until the 4th Circuit issues its final ruling on the case. It is scheduled to hear oral arguments in September. </p><p style="">MVP argued in a court filing in June that a construction delay till December, around when the pipeline was supposed to begin operations, could cost it more than $600 million and delay construction eight months, according to Reuters.</p><p style="">MVP spokesperson Natalie Cox told West Virginia Public Broadcasting that they were disappointed in the results and looking at alternative routes that would not cross waterways.</p><p style="">But pipeline opponents hope to stop the project altogether.</p><p style="">"Today's court-mandated pause is a welcome opportunity for regulators to take a real look at the impacts of this massive project, which we're confident will lead them to conclude that there simply is no safe way to build the Mountain Valley Pipeline," Chesapeake Climate Action Network General Counsel Anne Havemann said.</p>
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A mudslide closed Cahas Mountain Road in Franklin County on May 18. Emily Beckner Guilliams / Preserve Montgomery County VA / Facebook
The fight against the Mountain Valley Pipeline has gone from the trees to the courts, as six landowners filed suit against the pipeline in federal court Tuesday, claiming a mudslide near one of its construction sites damaged their property, WSLS 10 reported.
The suit comes a week after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers pulled the project's permit to empty dredged material into West Virginia rivers while it evaluates if the project violates West Virginia's environmental rules, potentially delaying the pipeline, Reuters reported.
<p style="">The controversial pipeline would carry <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fracking/" target="_self">fracked</a> <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/natural-gas" target="_self">natural gas</a> through 300 miles of West Virginia and Virginia. It has faced vocal opposition, motivating nine tree sitters to block its path since February.</p><p style="">The landowners in Tuesday's suit, Wendell and Mary Flora, Glenn and Linda Firth, and Michael and France Hurt, live near a pipeline construction site in Franklin County, Virginia.<br></p><p style="">Heavy rains May 15 caused a mudslide to override construction barriers at the pipeline work site on May 18 and block Cahas Mountain Road with 8 inches of mud. </p><p style="">The landowners claim the runoff from the mudslide entered their properties and damaged streams. </p><p style="">The suit says the company showed a "startling disregard" for the impacts of construction and asked the judge to stop work on the pipeline. </p><p style="">Immediately following the mudslide, Wendell Flora <a href="https://www.wsls.com/news/virginia/franklin/mudslide-reported-in-franklin-county-near-mountain-valley-pipeline-construction" target="_blank">told WSLS 10</a> he had never seen flooding as severe in his 50 years living near Cahas Mountain Road. </p><p style="">"When the pipeline wasn't here, naturally, the water would be up. It would get up really high, but it wouldn't be muddy, running muddy like it is now," he said.</p><p style="">The suit was preceded by an ongoing investigation by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ) into the cause of the mudslide. </p><p style="">One VDEQ worker quoted in the suit said she saw so much mud block a stream near the slide that the water stopped flowing.</p><p style="">The incident confirms the fears voiced by the pipeline's opponents when it was <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pipelines-approved-ferc-2497173092.html" target="_self">approved</a> by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), together with the nearby <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/atlantic-coast-pipeline" target="_self">Atlantic Coast Pipeline</a>, in October. </p><p style="">Two members of the FERC appointed by President <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a> voted to approve both projects, with Democrat Cheryl LaFleur voting against. </p><p style="">"The record demonstrates that these two large projects will have similar, and significant, environmental impacts on the region. Both [pipelines] cross hundreds of miles of karst terrain, thousands of waterbodies, and many agricultural, residential, and commercial areas. … and thus I respectfully dissent," LaFleur wrote in her dissent, <a href="https://thinkprogress.org/ferc-commissioner-dissents-33ed185fed9d/" target="_blank">Think Progress reported</a>. </p><p style="">The recent mudslide brings the reasons behind her dissent to life. </p><p style="">"My concerns are what they've always been—damage to our environment, damage to our watershed, runoff that's going to not only the town of Rocky Mount's water treatment plant but Smith Mountain Lake's sedimentation and water quality," Franklin County Board of Supervisors Mike Carter told WSLS 10 after the mudslide. </p>
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Fern MacDougal's stand on Pocahontas Road. Appalachians Against Pipelines
Resistance is growing against the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) designed to carry fracked gas 300 miles from northwest West Virginia to southern Virginia.
On Monday morning, a woman named Fern MacDougal strung up a platform 30 feet in the air that is suspended by ropes tied to surrounding trees in Virginia's Jefferson National Forest.
<p>
MacDougal is now the ninth person in the last 85 days to stage tree-sits across the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines">pipeline</a> route in order to block its construction, according to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/appalachiansagainstpipelines/" target="_blank">Appalachians Against Pipelines</a>. Her "aerial blockade," as the resistance group calls it, is located on Pocahontas Road, which Mountain Valley plans to use to reach a construction site.
</p><p>
Opponents of the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline, whose route cuts through one of the country's most iconic <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/10-great-american-hikes-that-should-be-on-your-bucket-list-1882011635.html" target="_blank">hiking trails</a>, worry about its threat to the area's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/water">water</a> supply and to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_blank">wildlife</a> habitat, as well as its potential harm to recreational lands and the health of surrounding Appalachian communities. Environmental groups also <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/mountain-valley-pipeline-appalachian-trail-2149221350.html" target="_blank">warn</a> that the project sets a terrible precedent of building <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/energy-news" target="_blank">energy</a> infrastructure through national forests.
</p><p>
<span></span>"Cutting through delicate karst topography and 300 miles of contiguous forest and family farms seized by eminent domain, MVP threatens to damage the health and wellbeing of poor and oppressed communities along the pipeline route by threatening the air, soil and water," said MacDougal in a statement.
</p><p>
She added, "This pipeline will catalyze the growth and expansion of gas extraction across Appalachia, an industry which has already caused permanent harm to many communities. We are dedicated to resisting this reckless endangerment of the land and people as long as MVP continues to operate."
</p><p>
<span></span>MacDougal was inspired to follow the activism of a fellow tree-sitter named "Nutty," who has protested from her monopod a few miles up Pocahontas road since March 28, and by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/lawyer-fire-death-protest-brooklyn-2560544422.html" target="_blank">David Buckel</a>, a civil rights lawyer who died last month after setting himself on fire to protest environmental destruction.
</p><p>
Posters at MacDougal's site declare, "WHICH SIDE ARE YOU ON?" and "STILL HERE."
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xNzcyNDQ2Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzY2Nzk2MH0.WB6W__saZsjctnXapOLoK9433PR1AbXIrFbE3vPt2XA/img.jpg?width=980" id="e1923" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5d400502a462a3caf60f19c3c81ee7c1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Appalachians Against Pipelines</small>
</p><p>
In a Facebook <a href="https://www.facebook.com/appalachiansagainstpipelines/posts/1532661580179397" target="_blank">update</a> after her first day, MacDougal said the Forest Service was "really angry when they saw that I was here."
</p><p>
Tree-sits have popped up in at least five locations along the pipeline route. The oldest site is still occupied by a man named "Deckhard," who has been stationed at his platform on the West Virginia side of Peters Mountain since Feb. 26.
</p><p>
Mountain Valley has <a href="http://www.roanoke.com/business/efforts-to-take-land-for-the-mountain-valley-pipeline-challenged/article_12dc22bb-b61a-569b-8565-c2a8a68d74b1.html" target="_blank">sued</a> several hundred landowners in West Virginia and Virginia to invoke eminent domain to allow it to cut trees and run the pipeline through their properties. One such landowner, Red Terry, a 61 year woman, and her daughter "Minor," camped for more than a month in a treehouse on their own land before court-ordered fines and the threat of forced removal brought them down, <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/pipeline-protestors-trees-w520215" target="_blank">Rolling Stone</a> reported.
</p><p>
According to the <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/tree-sit-mountain-valley-pipeline-west-virginia-red-terry-franklin-county-protest-a8337311.html" target="_blank">Independent</a>, Mountain Valley has urged judges to remove some of the tree sitters but has been unsuccessful. The Forest Service also issued a "closure order" within 200 feet of the proposed pipeline route, which they say is to protect the public from any construction hazards.
</p><p>
<span></span>However, pipeline opponents say the order has prevented re-supplies of food and water to the tree-sitters. Attempts to bring supplies to the sitters has already led at least three arrests, <a href="https://www.outsideonline.com/2300611/tree-sitters-trying-save-pipeline" target="_blank">Outside Online</a> reported.
</p><p>
Rolling Stone reported that two Charlottesville physicians who sought to perform a wellness check on Nutty were denied access near her platform.
</p><p>
Mountain Valley has said that the pipeline will be in operation by the end of this year. However, Appalachians Against Pipelines, which is <a href="https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/donate-now-to-support-the-fight-against-the-mountain-valley-pipeline?source=direct_link#01" target="_blank">raising funds</a> to stop the project, said the presence of tree-sitters has already caused a significant delay in construction for more than 50 days.
</p>
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With Treetop Protest, 61-Year-Old Red Terry Leads Fight Against Mountain Valley Pipeline
23 April 2018
Popular
By Michael Sainato
In Virginia and West Virginia, residents and activists are battling natural gas companies over a natural gas pipeline currently being constructed.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline will extend 303 miles from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia, with a recently proposed 70 mile extension into North Carolina. The project is being funded and operated by Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC, owned by EQT Midstream Partners, LP; NextEra US Gas Assets, LLC; Con Edison Transmission, Inc.; WGL Midstream; and RGC Midstream, LLC.
<p>The pipeline will transport up to 2 billion cubic feet of fracked natural gas daily from the Marcellus and Utica <a href="http://marcelluscoalition.org/pa-map/" target="_blank">shale basins</a>, "to supply the growing need for natural gas in the mid-Atlantic and southeastern regions of the United States," according to a EQT Midstream Partners spokesperson.</p><p>The Federal Energy Reserve Commission <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pipelines-approved-ferc-2497173092.html" target="_self">approved</a> the pipeline in October 2017 with a 2-1 vote, with two seats on the commission vacant. The only dissenting vote was cast by Cheryl LaFleur, who cited environmental concerns and skepticism over the pipeline's necessity as influential factors on her vote against its approval. In February, a federal court <a href="http://www.roanoke.com/news/local/franklin_county/federal-appeals-court-declines-to-block-construction-of-mountain-valley/article_ae390b82-5cb1-517b-be83-b899f983eddc.html" target="_blank">denied</a> a request to delay the pipeline's construction filed by Appalachian Voices and five other conservation organizations. Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC is currently clearing forest along the Appalachian Trail and in <a href="https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/gwj/home/?cid=stelprd3827827" target="_blank">Jefferson National Forest </a>for the pipeline construction. According to<a href="http://www.roanoke.com/news/local/giles_county/as-tree-cutting-continues-for-the-mountain-valley-pipeline-so/article_8b07005a-3ff3-11e8-a908-a3db8fb38cec.html" target="_blank"> FERC</a>, Mountain Valley Pipeline has until May 31 to complete tree cutting.</p><p>Pipeline opponents claim the pipeline's construction will negatively impact the scenery and pose various environmental risks in the Appalachian region. "We are concerned about the Appalachian Trail and the devastation that's going to occur to the views from Peters Mountain and all along this region," said Maury Johnson, a resident and property owner in West Virginia opposing the pipeline, in an interview. "Back when I was a teenager I used to help maintain the trail, and I heard stories from those folks who helped build it in the 1930s and 40s. The trail took a 22 mile detour just to get on top of Peters Mountain and get the iconic view across West Virginia. Now with this project, you'll see the pipeline coming at you probably for thirty miles."</p><p>Johnson noted that pipeline surveyors visited the property on his family farm, and he has dealt with them since surveying began in early 2015. He claimed the surveyors rushed the job, often missing details that he had to frequently point out for them to record. "Some of the work that has been done has been very flawed," he said. On his Facebook account, Johnson has <a href="https://www.facebook.com/maurywjohnson/posts/1598675140248205" target="_blank">posted </a>several photos of sediment barriers set up by Mountain Valley Pipeline being breached to prevent erosion, just one of the several risks to water quality in the area posed by the pipeline. Johnson also expressed concern for<a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/64175940/0" target="_blank"> Bentley's coral root</a>, a plant listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, only found in a few areas of Virginia and West Virginia, as one of the species at risk from the pipeline's construction.</p><p>The Mountain Valley Pipeline has <a href="http://www.roanoke.com/business/efforts-to-take-land-for-the-mountain-valley-pipeline-challenged/article_12dc22bb-b61a-569b-8565-c2a8a68d74b1.html" target="_blank">sued</a> several hundred landowners in West Virginia and Virginia to invoke eminent domain to allow it to cut trees and run the pipeline through their properties. Some landowners and pipeline opponents have resorted to conducting <a href="https://www.facebook.com/appalachiansagainstpipelines/posts/1496970327081856" target="_blank">tree sit-ins</a>, building treehouses in trees on their own property to prevent the Mountain Valley Pipeline from clearing their land.</p><p>"They came through a few days ago and cut all around me," said Red Terry, a 61 year woman who has lived in a tree on her property off Poor Mountain Road in Roanoke County, West Virginia for at least three weeks, in an interview. "My daughter is also in a tree and had them on all four sides of her. She cried all day. Nobody should have the right to eminent domain for something that is not going to help people. It's to help themselves, profit before the people."</p><p>Neighbors, friends, family and activists have helped assist Red in her tree sit-in. Despite her continued protest, she said that Mountain Valley Pipeline cut down several trees on her property and have pressured her to come down, including allegedly blackmailing her sister with artifacts found on her property in exchange for Red leaving the tree.</p><p>"When they were cutting my trees and I had tears running down my face, the cops were watching the devastation also, I looked at one of them and I thought he was going to start crying. At the same time, four Mountain Valley Pipeline security guards were laughing, carrying on, and thought it was the greatest thing in the world."</p><p>Last Thursday, police <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/perched-on-a-platform-high-in-a-tree-a-61-year-old-woman-fights-a-gas-pipeline/2018/04/21/3b8284b4-435e-11e8-bba2-0976a82b05a2_story.html?utm_term=.87a73f6a9db2" target="_blank">formally pressed</a> charges against Red Terry and her daughter; trespassing, obstruction of justice and interfering with property rights. The charges have now created a stand-off, as Red and her daughter will be arrested as soon as they descend from their trees. But their fight has become a rallying call among other pipeline opponents in the area.</p><p>On Peters Mountain, along the West Virginia and Virginia border, activists and local residents have organized other tree sit-ins, including setting up a monopod tower to try to block an access road to the pipeline construction. "The frontline communities impacted by the pipeline have been very supportive. The people in Appalachia have consistently throughout history fought back against exploitative industries like the Mountain Valley Pipeline," said Ashley, a tree sitter on Peters Mountain, in an interview. "There have been consistent police and security forces harassing us. Some are more hostile to us than others, but even when they try to play the good cop role, there's no doubt in my mind they are working on behalf of the interests of those building the pipeline." The identity of this tree sitter is being kept anonymous to prevent legal action against them.</p><p>The U.S. Department of Agricultural Forest Service <a href="http://www.bdtonline.com/news/directly-in-the-mountain-valley-pipeline-path-tree-sitters-halt/article_2ee0e30a-4123-11e8-970d-2f6d8a4ac725.html" target="_blank">shut down</a> the road and the area around the monopod from the public, only permitting Mountain Valley Pipeline services access. The monopod organizers have <a href="https://www.facebook.com/appalachiansagainstpipelines/photos/rpp.1444117392367150/1485078464937709/?type=3&theater" target="_blank">accused</a> the U.S. Forest Service of preventing supplies, water and food from being brought to the protesters. The U.S. Forest Service did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p>On March 20, Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Robert Irons <a href="http://www.bdtonline.com/news/directly-in-the-mountain-valley-pipeline-path-tree-sitters-halt/article_2ee0e30a-4123-11e8-970d-2f6d8a4ac725.html" target="_blank">denied</a> an injunction filed by the Mountain Valley Pipeline against protesters to have them removed, permitting the tree sit-ins to continue.</p><p><a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines">Pipeline</a> opponents have pointed out the powerful political influence the Mountain Valley Pipeline companies have on elected officials in West Virginia and Virginia.</p><p>The companies invested in Mountain Valley Pipeline have significantly backed both Republicans and Democrats. In the 2017-2018 election cycle, EQT Midstream Partners <a href="https://www.vpap.org/donors/121574-eqt-corp/" target="_blank">gave</a> Virginia Governor Ralph Northam's campaign $25,000 and his inaugural committee another $25,000 after donating $20,000 to Republican Governor candidate Ed Gillespie's campaign. In total, they've donated $60,000 to Republican state legislators in Virginia and $56,000 to Democrats. At the federal level, EQT has <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/pacgot.php?cycle=2018&cmte=C00151175" target="_blank">donated</a> $5,000 to Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and $1000 to Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) this election cycle.</p><p>Opposition to the pipeline has started to draw some support from elected officials. On April 16, 11 Virginia House delegates, including Lee Carter, a Democratic Socialist who unseated one of the state's top Republicans in a November 2017 election, signed onto a <a href="http://bluevirginia.us/2018/04/the-fracking-tree#comment-3858514223" target="_blank">letter of support</a> for peaceful protesters against the Mountain Valley Pipeline.</p><p>"We oppose both the Mountain Valley and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/atlantic-coast-pipeline">Atlantic Coast</a> Pipelines," said Tom McIntire,a spokesperson for Delegate Lee Carter, in an email. "These projects do not provide any benefit for Virginia or her residents and ask those same residents to bear costs that are too great to reasonably expect of them. With every avenue we are given, we will work (with our colleagues of both parties alongside advocates) to ensure that these disastrous projects are halted."</p><p>As elected officials begin to support efforts to stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation">conservation</a> organizations are still pursuing litigation to halt construction.</p><p>There are currently four separate cases in litigation being represented by attorneys for <a href="http://www.appalmad.org/" target="_blank">Appalachian Mountain Advocates</a> and other conservation organizations. One <a href="http://www.appalmad.org/2017/12/08/environmental-groups-challenge-virginias-unlawful-approval-of-fracked-gas-pipeline/" target="_blank">challenging</a> the state of Virginia's clean water act 401 certification of the pipeline and one challenging the the actions of the U.S. Forest Service to grant a right of way through Jefferson National Forest are scheduled to be heard on May 8. The third case <a href="https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/press-room/Petition%20for%20Review%20for%20filing.%20%281%29.pdf?scv=1518547538796" target="_blank">challenging</a> the Army Corps of Engineers' Water Quality Review is scheduled to be heard in September, with the fourth case <a href="http://www.appalmad.org/2018/01/09/enviros-sue-to-stop-mountain-valley-pipeline/" target="_blank">challenging</a> the "certificate of public convenience and necessity" granted to the pipeline by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission still pending a briefing schedule in Washington, DC court.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="99a9f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="YG29R51576662411"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="919934654467268608" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Major East Coast Pipelines Approved by FERC Despite Strong Opposition https://t.co/qgIFQCEEKL @Ecowatch</div> — Sierra Club (@Sierra Club)<a href="https://twitter.com/SierraClub/statuses/919934654467268608">1508164487.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2018/04/22/treetop-protest-61-year-old-red-terry-leading-fight-against-mountain-valley" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em></p>
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A simulated view of the Mountain Valley Pipeline from Giles High School in Pearisburg, Virginia. Hill Studio for Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition
Federal regulators approved plans for two controversial new natural gas pipelines along the East Coast Friday.
In a divided 2-1 vote, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave the green light to the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipeline projects, which would carry shale gas through Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina. Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur, the only dissenting vote, expressed concerns in her written dissent on the redundancy of the collective 900 miles of pipeline, the potential environmental impacts and the relatively small accounted demand for the Mountain Valley project.
<p style="">Both pipelines have been met with severe local opposition, and some activists expect backlash and increased fights against the projects following FERC's decision. </p><p style="">As reported by the <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2017/10/14/divided-ferc-board-approves-duke-energy-s-atlantic.html" target="_blank">Charlotte Business Journal</a>:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Greg Buppert, a senior attorney for the <a href="https://www.southernenvironment.org/" target="_blank">Southern Environmental Law Center</a>, called the FERC order a long-anticipated 'rubber stamp' and said his organization intends to challenge the decision.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">'The utilities involved in the construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline claim utility customers will save money, when in fact this pipeline will drive up ratepayers' bills—and cause harm to national <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/forests">forests</a> and to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/rivers">rivers</a> and streams while threatening to commit our states to fossil fuels for decades to come," he says.'"</p><p style="">"This poorly-planned pipeline will hurt the local economy, pollute central Virginia's clean <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drinking-water">drinking water</a> supply and scar the Appalachian National Scenic Trail," Ron Tipton, president and CEO of the <a href="http://www.appalachiantrail.org/home/community/news/2017/10/14/appalachian-trail-conservancy-criticizes-yesterday-s-decision-by-the-federal-energy-regulatory-commission-to-certify-the-mountain-valley-pipeline-project" target="_blank">Appalachian Trail Conservancy</a> said in a statement. </p><p style="">"Central Virginia does not need another pipeline to fulfill America's energy needs, particularly one that violates local environmental laws and is strongly opposed by local elected officials and citizen groups."</p><p style=""><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong></p><p style="">FERC vote: <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/355429-federal-regulators-approve-major-east-coast-pipelines" target="_blank">The Hill</a>, <a href="https://www.politicopro.com/energy/whiteboard/2017/10/divided-ferc-approves-two-pipeline-projects-including-atlantic-coast-094290" target="_blank">Politico Pro</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/10/13/us/ap-us-natural-gas-pipelines.html?_r=0" target="_blank">AP</a>. Backlash: <a href="http://www.roanoke.com/business/ferc-s-approval-of-mountain-valley-pipeline-stirs-defiance-determination/article_4b8c75b1-ae8b-57ca-8016-0e4d0dae6de4.html" target="_blank">Roanoke Times</a>, <a href="http://www.dailyprogress.com/newsvirginian/news/economy/as-expected-reaction-mixed-to-pipeline-decision/article_138e4d36-b10e-11e7-965a-37eda23936b6.html" target="_blank">News Virginian</a>, <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/news/2017/10/14/divided-ferc-board-approves-duke-energy-s-atlantic.html" target="_blank">Charlotte Business Journa</a>l</p><p> <em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, and sign up for daily </em><a href="http://climatenexus.us4.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=d1f5797e59060083034310930&id=7c84c08aaa" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>.</em></p>
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The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released its Final Environmental Impact Statement Friday for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a controversial 303-mile pipeline that would carry two billion cubic feet of fracked gas per day from West Virginia through Virginia.
<p>As has been the pattern at FERC, the review fails to adequately assess whether the pipeline is needed in the first place, while sweeping aside the project's serious threats to water resources, the safety of communities and the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/">climate</a>.</p><p><a href="http://priceofoil.org/" target="_blank">Oil Change International</a> research analyst Kelly Trout had the following response to FERC's deeply flawed climate assessment:</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">In this utterly insufficient review, FERC ignores both science and economics to sweep aside the Mountain Valley Pipeline's significant climate impact. FERC severely undercounts climate pollution by ignoring <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/methane">methane</a> leakage across the gas supply chain, which makes gas as dirty or dirtier than <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal">coal</a>, and by omitting emissions from upstream <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/fracking/">fracking</a>. FERC also wrongly assumes that gas supplied by the project is likely to replace coal, when it's just as likely to lock out the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">clean energy</a> and efficiency alternatives we urgently need.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">If FERC was doing its job, it would find the Mountain Valley Pipeline will cause an unacceptable increase in climate pollution and reject this dirty project. A proper <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2017/02/15/mountain-valley-pipeline-greenhouse-gas-emissions-briefing/" target="_blank">analysis</a> shows that this pipeline will cause as much climate pollution as 26 coal plants per year. This project is the last thing we need in the face of worsening heatwaves and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding">flooding</a>, and when clean alternatives are readily available now.</p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">Concerned residents continue to fight this dirty pipeline because it's a clear threat to local livelihoods, clean water and our climate. It's time for FERC to completely overhaul its pipeline review process to prioritize the safety of communities and our climate, not the profits of corporate polluters.</p><p>In a recent <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2017/02/15/mountain-valley-pipeline-greenhouse-gas-emissions-briefing/" target="_blank">study</a>, Oil Change International found that the Mountain Valley Pipeline will cause nearly 90 million metric tons of greenhouse gas pollution per year, which is the equivalent of 26 coal plants or 19 million vehicles on the road. The study applied a gas pipeline climate <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2017/02/08/gas-pipeline-climate-methodology/" target="_blank">methodology</a> that is based on the latest analysis of the lifecycle pollution of fracked gas from the Appalachian Basin.</p>
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Chesapeake Climate Action Network
By Kelly Trout
Now that Donald Trump has official announced that he plans to pull out of the Paris climate agreement and further entrench the power of the fossil fuel industry within our federal government, state and local action on climate becomes ever more crucial.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe recently said as much in announcing executive action to draw up a state cap-and-trade system to limit carbon pollution from power plants.
<p>"Obviously with the pronouncements now coming out of the Trump administration, we cannot rely on them to do it, so we will be taking it into our own hands on the state level," McAuliffe <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/virginia-clean-power_us_591b09a4e4b07d5f6ba62c03" target="_blank">declared</a>.</p><p>But if McAuliffe (or Virginia's next governor) is truly serious about standing up to Trump on climate, and protecting Virginia's <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/04/science/flooding-of-coast-caused-by-global-warming-has-already-begun.html?_r=0" target="_blank">vulnerable coastline</a> from catastrophic <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding">flooding</a>, he would also stop two massive fracked-gas <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines">pipelines</a> proposed across the state. And, contrary to McAuliffe's <a href="http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/mcauliffe-says-he-lacks-authority-to-stop-atlantic-coast-pipeline/article_1b46c564-81d9-5e0a-bf83-eeed6a4a1be2.html" target="_blank">public statements</a>, Virginia's governor can stop these pipelines.</p><p>These projects—the 600-mile <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/Atlantic-Coast-Pipeline">Atlantic Coast Pipeline</a> led by Dominion Energy, and the 301-mile <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/mountain-valley-pipeline">Mountain Valley Pipeline</a> led by gas company EQT—would be disasters for the climate and communities along their path. They would both carry fracked gas from West Virginia through Virginia, crossing the steep fragile terrain of the Allegheny highlands and hundreds of waterways, and threatening pristine forests, drinking water supplies, and farms. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline would stretch further into North Carolina. Because of the risks, the projects are being <a href="http://www.abralliance.org/" target="_blank">fiercely</a> <a href="https://powhr.org/" target="_blank">opposed</a> by affected landowners and concerned residents across all three states.</p><p>If built, the pipelines would blow a gaping, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/methane">methane</a>-filled hole into any Virginia state plan to reduce carbon emissions from power plants. In fact, they would significantly increase climate pollution. <a href="http://priceofoil.org/" target="_blank">Oil Change International</a> found that these pipelines would <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2017/02/15/new-analysis-mountain-valley-and-atlantic-coast-pipelines-are-climate-disasters/" target="_blank">together cause</a> as much greenhouse gas pollution as 45 <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coal">coal</a>-fired power plants—some 158 million metric tons a year. (See the <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2017/02/15/mountain-valley-pipeline-greenhouse-gas-emissions-briefing/" target="_blank">Mountain Valley Pipeline</a> and <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2017/02/15/atlantic-coast-pipeline-greenhouse-gas-emissions-briefing/" target="_blank">Atlantic Coast Pipeline</a> greenhouse gas emissions briefings.) That's because each new pipeline would trigger new gas production through <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/fracking/">fracking</a>, and reliance on fracked gas for electricity is <em>dirtier</em> than coal when you add up the leakage of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, along the gas supply chain.</p><p>In Virginia, picking up Trump's slack on climate change must include proactively stopping the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines, and the increased gas reliance they would enable. Dominion Energy's Virginia subsidiary, the largest utility in the state, plans to continue <a href="https://powerforthepeopleva.com/2017/05/03/dominion-power-promises-huge-solar-investments-and-a-lower-carbon-footprint-or-does-it/" target="_blank">investing heavily in gas-fired power plants</a>. It's doing so at the expense of seriously accelerating <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/">clean energy</a> investments, despite the fact that Virginia lags far behind neighboring <a href="http://www.seia.org/state-solar-policy/north-carolina" target="_blank">North Carolina</a> and <a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/environment/bs-md-offshore-wind-licenses-20170511-story.html" target="_blank">Maryland</a> in tapping its <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/solar">solar</a> and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wind">wind</a> resources, and ranks in the <a href="http://aceee.org/state-policy/scorecard" target="_blank">bottom-third</a> of all states on energy efficiency.</p><p>Addressing carbon emissions only at the point of gas combustion—as the gas industry would like policymakers to do and as McAuliffe has thus far obliged—is like trying to save a burning house by spraying water on one side and jet fuel on the other. The flames will keep growing.</p><p>So how can Virginia's governor stop these pipelines?</p><p>The answer rests with <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/water">water</a>.</p><p>For his part, McAuliffe has frequently claimed the pipelines are a "federal" issue. That belies the full picture. While the federal Natural Gas Act concentrates permitting authority over interstate gas pipelines with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), it specifically <a href="http://chesapeakeclimate.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/McAuliffe-Gas-Pipeline-Authority-Fact-Sheet-Oct-2016.pdf" target="_blank">preserves</a> state authority to approve or deny certain permits under the federal Clean Water Act. The governor's administration has direct authority to approve or deny a Water Quality Certificate for both pipelines under <a href="https://www.epa.gov/cwa-404/clean-water-act-section-401-certification" target="_blank">Section 401</a> of the Clean Water Act.</p><p>As David Sligh of the Dominion Pipeline Monitoring Coalition <a href="http://southeastenergynews.com/2017/05/03/virginia-pipeline-opponents-escalate-as-governors-race-heats-up/" target="_blank">put it</a>, FERC's role "in no way lessens the state's ability to stop these destructive projects if they would damage our water quality. Congress explicitly gave states a veto power over federal projects that could degrade their waters."</p><p>This is far from a theoretical argument. In New York State, the Cuomo administration has used state authority over 401 permits to <a href="http://www.heraldandnews.com/news/local_news/business/new-york-is-threatening-to-spoil-trump-s-push-for/article_d0e62725-b76e-5fe5-b104-0741754965d3.html" target="_blank">block construction of two gas pipelines</a> over the past year: the Constitution Pipeline and the Northern Access Pipeline.</p><p>Meanwhile, recent headlines out of Ohio illustrate the extensive damage gas pipelines can inflict on water resources during construction alone. FERC recently ordered Energy Transfer Partners to halt new horizontal directional drilling activities for construction of the Rover Pipeline after the company <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/feds-halt-drilling-rover-pipeline-2404475780.html">spilled two to five million gallons of drilling waste</a> into fragile wetlands. The Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley projects would both involve this type of risky drilling, they would both cross hundreds of waterways and wetlands, and their construction would involve laying 42-inch, high-pressure pipe through fragile karst terrain.</p><p>Yet, the McAuliffe administration has waffled in its willingness to fully exercise its permit authority under the Clean Water Act. In early April, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) <a href="http://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/virginia-pipelines-will-be-subject-to-department-of-environment-quality/article_71798b06-c08f-5598-8667-1b42c20a8d05.html" target="_blank">released a statement</a> saying it would conduct project-specific 401 permit reviews for each pipeline, including a review of individual stream and wetlands crossings. </p><p>However, just seven weeks later, the agency suddenly <a href="http://www.roanoke.com/business/news/deq-acknowledges-error-clarifies-approach-to-review-of-pipelines/article_2ea11f0c-1fac-5531-aaae-ba6d7f0b2e0c.html" target="_blank">backtracked</a>, calling that previous statement a "miscommunication." Instead, DEQ said it will defer to a blanket "Nationwide Permit 12" issued by the Army Corps of Engineers, which would approve hundreds of stream crossings at once without any site-specific review. DEQ claims it will still examine "other" issues beyond the waterway crossings. Water advocates say this <a href="http://pipelineupdate.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/DPMCLettertoGov.McAuliffe.5.24.17-1.pdf" target="_blank">would amount to an evasion</a> of the state's legal duties.</p><p>The bottom line is this: To lead on climate, and protect the state's precious water resources, Virginia's governor—whether it's Terry McAuliffe or his successor—can and must stop the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines.</p><p>Doing so will take some political guts. Dominion, the company behind the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, also happens to be the <a href="http://www.dailypress.com/news/politics/dp-nws-dominion-campaign-contributions-20170518-story.html" target="_blank">biggest corporate donor</a> to state political candidates in Virginia.</p><p>But gutsy decisions from state and local leaders are needed now more than ever, given Trump's absolute abdication of moral and economic leadership at the federal level. Virginia has an opportunity to become a true climate leader in the Trump era—but that must include rejecting multi-billion-dollar investments in new fossil fuel infrastructure. Gas pipelines are a <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2016/07/22/a-bridge-too-far-report/" target="_blank">bridge to climate destruction</a> forestalling our transition to solar, wind, and energy efficiency solutions, which provide the only path to a stable climate.</p>
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