65-Year-Old Tree Sitter Red Terry is Facing Apocalyptic Wetland Destruction

Bent Mountain, VA – Irreversible wetland destruction is occurring on famous tree-sitter Red Terry’s land. 65-year-old Terry made national headlines in 2018 for her weeks-long tree-sit to stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline from destroying her family’s land. Now MVP is tearing into her land, pumping sediment into the fragile wetland and streams and violating environmental laws. 

“Sitting up in those trees for that month, I endured hail, snow, and freezing rain. That was nothing compared to the apocalypse I am witnessing now,” said Red Terry, tree-sitter and landowner in Bent Mountain, Virginia. “This exploitation of my home for MVP’s bottomline must stop. The government says they protect people like me; they better show it by stopping work now.”

Terry has reported these violations to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality but the agency has done little to stop MVP’s recklessness – despite MVP’s history of accruing over 300 violations, resulting in $2 million in fines. Community members across the route are filing evidence of violations and receiving little to no reply from regulatory agencies like DEQ and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

Terry is a resident of Virginia, a state whose senator fervently opposed the congressional greenlighting of the MVP that West Virginia Senator Manchin spearheaded. Red is just one of hundreds of people impacted directly by the pipeline who have resisted its encroachment for nearly ten years and are now witnessing apocalyptic destruction. While MVP claims this destruction will generate needed gas, this is false and evidenced by their flippant route change.

This folder contains images of MVP’s destruction to Red’s wetland. 

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This press release was published on Friday, January 5, 2024.