Burying Evidence?
Image obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request showing a weld that failed during hydrostatic testing on MVP in Bent Mountain, Virginia in May 2024.
On June 3, 2025, reporter Mike Tony of the Charleston Gazette-Mail broke the story of a federal wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a welding inspector formerly employed by Mountain Valley Pipeline. The complaint, originally filed in Monroe County Circuit Court, claims the inspector, Michael Barnhill, “was terminated, in whole or in part, for raising concerns with and making complaints to Defendants related to safety issues including improperly welded pipelines and quality of pipes as well as other PHMSA regulations.” Considering the 303 mile length of the pipeline, now pumping methane gas under high pressure, and the steepness and instability of the route terrain, Mike Tony’s ongoing coverage again sets off alarm bells about the integrity of the entire pipeline.
“In his complaint, Barnhill says he discovered corrosion in three separate sections of pipeline joints on Nov. 15, 2023, that was significant enough to make them noncompliant with construction specifications and federal regulations.”
These revelations did not surprise longtime MVP construction monitors, advocates, and directly impacted landowners, and only served to escalate ever present concerns about pipeline safety and the lack of meaningful enforcement our communities have experienced throughout the long saga of MVP opposition. While this is a civil matter aimed at addressing the alleged wrongful termination, it surely comes at great personal risk to the complainant, Michael Barnhill. Taking on powerful and wealthy fracked gas corporations and their armies of lawyers is challenging and commendable. The question is, will anyone at the federal oversight level actually do anything about these allegations? (Looking at you, United States Congress.)
Virginia Delegate Sam Rasoul, D-38th District, shared his concerns about pipeline companies in an interview with WSLS:
“These companies are out to make a profit, and I know a lot of people can understand that, but what can’t be compromised is our safety.”
Monroe County landowner and unstoppable advocate Maury Johnson has knocked on a lot of doors in Washington, DC to try to get a response from elected officials. He wrote about his concerns in Common Dreams:
“If the allegations contained in the lawsuit are true, it demonstrates a willful endangerment of citizens and a gross violation of federal laws and policies. It is imperative that this does not get swept under the rug by Mountain Valley Pipeline with some sort of out of court settlement and a nondisclosure agreement. Congress, PHMSA, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) each must conduct investigations to determine if public safety has been compromised and if officials with MVP broke federal law.”
Roanoke Times reporter Laurence Hammack picked up the coverage on June 15, 2025 focusing on lingering problems with restoration work inside the MVP right of way:
“Many sections of the pipeline built on more level terrain already have grass and shrubs growing on the right-of-way. But on places like Poor Mountain, returning the land to its original condition and covering erosion-prone slopes with grass has proven to be more difficult.”
Tina Badger, a longtime MVP opponent and relentless pipeline construction monitor had this reaction when the news of this lawsuit broke:
“We watched and fought for a decade knowing it was up to us to protect the land, ourselves, and our neighbors. This lawsuit is just one more piece that may join the stack of evidence that this project should never have been approved much less completed and put in service. Hearing about this lawsuit was no surprise to those of us that have witnessed this boondoggle over the years. Infuriating but not surprising. We hope justice prevails as it should have from the start.”
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Note: This is a developing story. Watch this page for updates as we follow this lawsuit and relevant coverage of the ongoing risk to our communities from MVP.