Enough is Enough
This blog post was written by Crystal Mello and Dan Ideozu
Appalachia has long been targeted by the fossil fuel industry and enough is enough. Right now Virginia is being attacked from all sides. For a long time we have been watching the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) damage our environment and that has not stopped since the pipeline has gone into service. Now there are even more proposed pipeline projects that will be harmful to our environments and our communities. Data centers are being used to justify more pipeline buildout. These projects are effecting climate change and we are seeing the horrific aftermath devastate our communities as we saw with Hurricane Helene.
MVP is a 303 mile long, 42 inch diameter methane gas pipeline that goes through many steep slopes and precious waterbodies of West Virginia and Virginia. The project began in 2014 and people began fighting it immediately. Many people shared concerns of how this massive pipeline would impact our environment and they were right to be worried. MVP has violated water quality certification rules for upland activities at least 1,500 times. They broke Virginia’s water protection laws over 300 times in 2018 alone. MVP has been fined massively for failing to control erosion and sediment. The main reason we know about these violations is because a group of volunteers came together under Mountain Valley Watch to monitor the pipeline and nearby waterways in order to show agencies know what is actually going on. It should really be the other way around. Agencies should be informing the public of what is going on in our environment. All of this damage took place before MVP went into service and they paid millions of dollars for the damage they caused.
The owner of MVP, EQT Corp, announced that they had begun an open season in June to July to gauge interest in expanding the capacity for the pipeline by constructing a new compressor station in Montgomery County, VA. They would also increase the capacity and add pressure at the three existing compressor stations in West Virginia as well. They are calling this MVP Boost. A new compressor station in Elliston, VA, Swann Station, would add more air and noise pollution for those living close by. Compressor stations have engines that re-pressurize methane gas and send it back through the pipeline. They release methane gas, carbon monoxide and many other hazardous air pollutants that contribute to respiratory problems, heart disease and cancer. The news of MVP Boost does not come as a surprise as it has been anticipated for the last decade, however it does come as a huge disappointment. This dangerous pipeline project continues to profit off destroying the environment and putting communities at risk.
There is currently a lawsuit going on between MVP and one of their former welding inspectors, Michael Barnhill. Barnhill states that he was fired after reporting illegal welds on the pipeline. He says that he was told, “If you want to keep your job, just install [the joints]’ and “stop [expletive] arguing”. Illegal welds can lead to cracking in the pipe which can lead to methane gas leaks and in the worst case, an explosion. The illegal weld was later removed and replaced with an approved weld because Barnhill didn’t back down. This raises a concern on how many welds in the pipeline have been properly inspected. MVP just continues putting us at risk and in great danger.
MVP has also proposed an extension into North Carolina called the Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate extension (MVPS). The MVPS would start in Pittsylvania County, VA, and would extend to Rockingham County, NC. MVP has a terrible track record with safety violations and we don’t need to watch years of destruction happen all over again. During MVP’s construction we watched as sedimentation polluted waterways, including landowners’ well water. Some of this pollution went unaddressed for days upon days. The MVP mainline construction is completed but one year later we are still seeing these ongoing issues of erosion, sedimentation pollution and improper restoration. MVP goes through Doe Creek Farm in Giles County, VA, and MVP has planted poison hemlock on the right of way. Georgia Haverty, the owner of the farm, has said that this hemlock has been killing her cows. This is a farmer's worst nightmare. MVP is an ongoing battle that seems to be never ending.
MVP Boost and MVPS aren’t the only pipeline projects targeting Virginia. Williams Company’s Transco pipeline Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SSEP) is a proposed 42 inch pipeline project that would be built in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama and Georgia. By volume, it is the largest proposed pipeline project in the last decade. SSEP would include compressor stations throughout its route which cause air pollution. There is a measured radius around a pipeline that is often referred to as the blast radius or the blast zone. This area is where anything or anyone within that radius would be at risk to great injury in the event of an explosion. SSEP would be built beside four existing pipelines which greatly heightens the risk of a catastrophic disaster if there were to be a methane gas leak. Williams Transco already has a horrendous safety record. Check out Pipeline Safety Trust’s analysis where they say that Williams Transco has more incidents than most pipelines, “William’s Co. is worse than other gas transmission operators in fatalities, cost per incident, and releases per incident”. Is taking this risk with this massive pipeline worth the irreparable harm in our communities?
Did you know that Virginia is the data capital of the world? Data centers are facilities that manage, store and process digital data. Our data isn’t living up in a cloud, it is on the ground in our communities. Data centers rely on an unbelievable amount of water to keep their systems cool which can put a strain on water resources. Google’s data centers in Leesburg, Sterling and Ashburn used 284 million gallons of water in 2023 alone. The National Environmental Education Foundation says that the average Virginian uses approximately 75 gallons of water per day which is only 27,000 gallons of water per year. Data centers are known to cause a lot of noise pollution that disrupts communties. Many data centers also rely on energy generated from fossil fuels for power. With that comes methane gas and carbon monoxide pollution. Data centers have been fueling the expansion of pipelines in Appalachia. EQT said in a presentation to their investors that natural gas capacity from MVP Boost would go towards electric utility demand for data centers in Northern Virginia but Virginia does not need more data center infrastructure.
“There is a serious risk of overbuilding electrical infrastructure to meet data center demand that may not materialize,” said Cathy Kunkel, an energy consultant with Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. “In the absence of proactive decisions by utilities or regulators, electric ratepayers will subsidize the building of new infrastructure that would not be needed in the absence of data centers and will be on the hook for overbuilt infrastructure.”
All over the world we are witnessing horrific flooding. Last year we were hit by Hurricane Helene and the aftermath was devastating. Massive flooding destroyed homes, businesses, roadways and completely overtook communities. Many people are still recovering from this tragedy. After Hurricane Helene, many mutual aid groups sprung into action to start redistributing resources and aid into impacted communities. People are driving miles upon miles to provide food, water and whatever supplies are requested. People also help with direct services of cleaning up homes that have been flooded. These people are just concerned community members that want to see people safe and cared for well after this disaster is out of the public eye. It is inspiring to see how we protect one another in the midst of chaos that is being exacerbated by the never ending extraction of fossil fuels.
Fossil fuels are the largest contributor to climate change and this is something we have known for decades. Climate catastrophes like Hurricane Helene are unfortunately getting more predictable, more frequent and it is no coincidence that we are seeing more and more havoc from climate change. As we continue to see fossil fuel extraction expand we will continue to see climate chaos and disasters. It is directly connected and it needs to stop if we want to protect our communities, our futures, and our homes. Stopping pipelines doesn’t just protect us today, it protects our future for decades to come. Investing in clean energy means investing in a world with less damage from climate change. This world is possible.
Virginia has been dealing with a lot. How do we protect our communities? We celebrated when the Atlantic Coast Pipeline was defeated. We cheered when Pittsylvania County shut down Balico’s proposed data center. We rejoiced when Guilford County’s Board of Commissioners passed a resolution stating their safety concerns about SSEP! We protect each other and our environment when we come together to fight against these dangerous projects. We uplift one another by speaking out against injustice and what we know will cause harm. Now is the time to make our voices heard. Right now the developers for MVP Southgate are applying for a water quality permit from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ). You can let them know how dangerous this project is by submitting a comment! You can find talking points to help guide your comment here and you can submit your comment here. These moments of public participation make a huge difference now more than ever. There is still time to stop MVP Boost. Sign up here to stay up to date on what's going on and what you can do to help. People are still recovering from Hurricane Helene and there are ways you can get involved. Holler 2 Holler is a group of volunteers that redistributes supplies and provides direct services to people who need it. Reach out to them on social media or email holler2holler@gmail.com. These are ways we can protect us.
Stay up to date on MVP Boost by filling out this interest form
Read more about MVP Southgate at stopmvpsouthgate.com
You can find more information about SSEP at nossep.org