FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 12, 2026
CONTACT
Russell Chisholm, Managing Director, (540) 404-2727, russell@powhr.org
Organizers Push Back on Misrepresentation of Local Opposition to MVP Boost
Over 200 community members call for the termination of the proposed MVP Boost project in Montgomery and Roanoke County as opposition grows
ELLISTON, VA. — On November 10, 2026 a community petition including 237 signatures from impacted community members in Montgomery and Roanoke Counties, was hand-delivered to the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, County Administrator, and County Attorney.
The petition began circulating after Montgomery County Board of Supervisor Vice Chair Steve Fijalkowski, representing District C, where the proposed Swann Compressor station has been sited, stated in his September 8th comment and was further reported by the Roanoke Times: “As far as local residents within the mile radius I have only heard from one person whose original complaint was the railroad blocking the road.”
The petition includes an outline of community concerns including the project’s lack of local benefit; meaningful engagement with the community; safety issues; public health impacts; and issues with federal review. The signatories expressed their opposition to the proposed MVP Boost project, and called for the termination of the MVP Boost Project. Community members urge the Commission to deny MVP’s application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity.
Community member, Karen Waldron, commented on the petition, “The environmental impact this station will create on the communities located along the 460 corridor of Eastern Montgomery Co will be ones that once here could not be mitigated. I’m asking for the Board to turn down this development for the sake of the residents here.”
“I live less than a half of a mile from this proposed project. I strongly oppose the MVP boost project,” said Allen Howard, local Elliston community member.
“I live and also organize in this town. It's hard to find anyone in favor of this project here or anywhere else close by,” said Crystal Mello, POWHR Community Organizer.
Joshua Vana, Director of ARTivism Virginia, adds, “As a Montgomery County resident who has witnessed more than ten years of callous abuse of our communities by EQT and the Mountain Valley Pipeline, I cannot stand by to see my neighbors harmed again – for decades – by an enormous, polluting gas compressor station. We are not ‘outsiders.’ We have been here the whole time. And we are saying, ‘Enough is enough!’”
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Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights (POWHR) is a coalition representing individuals and groups engaged in the just transition to clean and renewable energy sources, rooted in the greater Appalachian region and neighboring communities. POWHR fights the Mountain Valley Pipeline and works toward environmental, racial, and climate justice.