MVP Landslide Heightens Local Safety Concerns

Newport, VA — The Mountain Valley Pipeline caused a significant landslide on the route. Large sections of rock have collapsed into a pipeline trench and there are pronounced fractures on the slope. This hazard is located in the middle of a community in Giles County: right next to a major road, a frequently visited cave, and one of the last remaining historic covered bridges in Virginia. 

POWHR alerted the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) of this catastrophe, and has yet to hear back. If PHMSA had followed through on multiple requests to visit the route in Virginia, they would have viewed this site before the disaster.

Russell Chisholm, co-director of the Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights Coalition (POWHR) responded: 

“No pipeline has ever been built like this in the US. The land my community lives on is karst, landslide prone, and in a seismic zone, and MVP is shoving a 303-mile, 42-inch diameter methane gas pipeline through it. Now we’re experiencing the inevitable disasters resulting from their poor planning. Regulatory agencies must take immediate action to ensure our safety.”

Tomorrow, frontline community members will travel to Richmond to attend the Virginia State Water Control Board hearing. They will uplift demands for Attorney General Jason Miyares to hold MVP accountable to a 2019 agreement with the Commonwealth and for the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to issue an immediate stop work to MVP. 

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