Despite 8,000 Demanding Action, Virginia Gov’t Takes No Action on MVP, Sacrificing Southwest Va.

Richmond, VA — Eight thousand people demanded Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares hold the Mountain Valley Pipeline accountable to a 2019 consent decree with the Commonwealth that MVP has violated numerous times. Community members traveled to Richmond to deliver these petition signatures to the A.G., amplify agency failures to Governor Youngkin, call on the Department of Environmental Quality to issue a stop work to MVP, and advocate for their safety in front of the State Water Control Board. The week before, hundreds rallied to demand the Pipeline Hazardous Materials and Safety Administration (PHMSA) do their job to keep communities safe, following a significant landslide caused by MVP.

Deborah Kushner, a former state government employee and climate activist with Third Act Virginia who delivered the petition signatures to the A.G. responded:

“The sacrifice of the ancient amazing place that is Appalachia continues. The ugly tradition of profiting from the very things we love and need continues, unabated. We see that today with the conspicuous silence of the agencies and positions of power whose job it is to stave off these exact types of injustice and real harms.”

Russell Chisholm, directly harmed community member in Giles County and co-director of the Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights Coalition (POWHR) responded:

“Through the mismanagement of MVP permit enforcement, Virginia DEQ has set the standard for industry capture of so-called regulators. The lack of enforcement and complete disregard for community-based pollution reporting allows MVP to avoid any scrutiny or accountability. We can only hope that the State Water Control Board will not abdicate its role to represent and uplift the protection of the people where DEQ has failed to use its authority.”

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