Explosions and Leaks
We can’t trust the MVP to keep us safe. The company behind MVP, Equitrans Midstream, was criminally charged by the Pennsylvania attorney general over a house explosion in 2018 that injured a family and destroyed their home.
Equitrans Midstream is responsible for one of the biggest climate disasters of 2022 when it allowed a billion cubic feet of methane gas to leak from a facility for two weeks. Afterwards community members said they no longer feel safe.
Methane leaks for oil and gas facilities have caused the planet to reach a tipping point. Methane emissions cause 25% of global heating.
A group of people protesting in Washington, D.C. One protester is holding a sign that says “cod RED, stop MVP!”
MVP is building a fracked gas pipeline across some of the steepest slopes in the US with no proven need for the gas. In fact, in the last days of 2024, they changed their project plans to reroute the Southgate extension, begging the question, if the gas is as needed as they say, why would they flippantly change the direction and length of the pipe?
MVP travels through 75 miles of the steepest slopes in Appalachia and more than 200 miles with “high landslide susceptibility,” which places it at higher risk for explosions. This has never before been attempted for a large gas pipeline.
Three red umbrellas imitating a pipeline explosion with words like “Blast!” and “Bam”. The umbrellas are being held in front of the White House.
MVP is perhaps the riskiest new pipeline construction project in the country. Indeed, it’s been called “uniquely risky” by an environmental hydrologist.
This is not a hypothetical risk. MVP has already caused dozens of “slips” where a slope has become unstable, including slopes outside of the pipeline’s right-of-way. And, in 2019, MVP itself reported that a landslide along the pipeline route “progressed to the point where a residence directly downslope is unsafe to be occupied.”
The Mountain Valley Pipeline route running through the steep slopes of southwest Virginia.
The impact radius, or blast zone, of an MVP explosion is 1,100 feet. This is the distance from the explosion where death or serious injury is likely. The area of the MVP blast zone is about seven times as large as the San Bruno pipeline blast zone, where a major explosion occurred and killed eight people.
If you live on the route and are concerned about your safety, visit our “resources for landowners” page. If you’re as enraged as we are by this pipeline’s recklessness, take action to #DefundMVP.
Pipe Safety
Pipe safety is one of the biggest concerns community members along the route of the Mountain Valley Pipeline currently have.
After the early 2000s fracking boom in Appalachia, the Mountain Valley Pipeline leaped at the opportunity to make money off of fossil fuel extraction in the region through a new fracked gas, large-diameter pipeline. In their hurry to get the project done, MVP left pipe laying out in the sun for as long as six years. MVP has not taken adequate care of the pipes, which, due to its impossible plan to traverse steep mountain slopes, puts nearby communities in mortal danger.
An explosion during water testing of a pipe.
A pipe that ruptured during water testing.
Community members have been extremely frustrated with lack of action from state and federal agencies. Pipeline Safety Trust Executive Director Bill Caram said,
“PHMSA has been notoriously underfunded forever, and now there’s more and more pipelines being built and added to their regulatory authority. They just don’t have the staff to ensure operators are following the rules.”
Thanks to continued public pressure, on August 11, 2023, the federal government’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued the Mountain Valley Pipeline a proposed safety order due to pipe safety risks. Community members like Maury Johnson say it's a good start but it’s too late and too weak.