Comments on: Slip Movements of Mountain Valley Pipeline in Lewis County of Great Concern https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2020/05/06/slip-movements-of-mountain-valley-pipeline-in-lewis-county-of-great-concern/ Just another WordPress site Wed, 14 Feb 2024 02:06:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: S. Thomas Bond https://www.frackcheckwv.net/2020/05/06/slip-movements-of-mountain-valley-pipeline-in-lewis-county-of-great-concern/#comment-286499 S. Thomas Bond Wed, 06 May 2020 16:25:23 +0000 http://www.frackcheckwv.net/?p=32379#comment-286499 Pipelines are usually laid in areas where the topography allows deep soil cover to develop, multiple feet deep with, perhaps occasional stones or loose stony deposits. That is not the situation in Lewis and adjoining counties through which the MVP was laid. I live in Lewis County not far from the locations mentioned, and viewed them shortly after the work was done. They are what we residents affectionately call “straight up and down.” Soil does not accumulate in such areas. It may be a few inches thick, but washes away due to the steep grade, even with the dense forest over it, encouraged by high rainfall. Trenches in these areas are shallow (to avoid cost and the harder rock as one goes deeper. At 45 degrees, if you measure vertically the depth of eight feet, that gives five and a half feet if you measure vertically from the bottom of the ditch. Subtract three and a half feet for the 42 inch pipe and the coverage is two feet from the top of the pipe to the surface at the closest point. That’s assuming the pipe gets all the way to the bottom of the ditch and the coverage is uniform. To dig these ditches, the right of way is cleared of trees, the stumps pushed out by “dare devil” bulldozer operators down hill, near the limit they can operate. Then the backhoe starts near the bottom on leveler ground, facing downhill and a cable is stretched from a large bulldozer above the top of the steep grade. Then the cable is reeled in, inch-by-inch as the backhoe digs the ditch. Much of what is dug out clatters down the hillside, rather than staying in place for fill. The pipe is labored in, setting on the high spots, and welded in place. Finally, the pipe is covered up, stones first which are relatively abundant, with dirt on top to make it smooth. The same thing is done on the ACP pipeline a few miles away in Harrison County, where it is obvious they had to bring in dirt from adjacent areas to get a smooth cover. Then the abundant rain comes. The rocks along the bottom of the pipe have spaces between them and the area becomes a conduit for water. Before long, the soil on top washes down into the open spaces and is conducted down hill to wash out into a surface stream. It is somewhere between difficult and impossible to divert water off the right-of-way because of the stony quality of the diverting ditches. With hand work it might be possible, but with bulldozers on steep ground, even the most assiduous driver won’t get it right. The fact is those pipes will soon be exposed in the steep locations, rubbing against the stone as the steel expands and contracts with temperature change, wearing off the protective coating and then scratching off the rust that will form on the steel pipe. How long will it be until they corrode and/or develop leaks? Who knows when? Pipelines are usually laid in areas where the topography allows deep soil cover to develop, multiple feet deep with, perhaps occasional stones or loose stony deposits. That is not the situation in Lewis and adjoining counties through which the MVP was laid.

I live in Lewis County not far from the locations mentioned, and viewed them shortly after the work was done. They are what we residents affectionately call “straight up and down.” Soil does not accumulate in such areas. It may be a few inches thick, but washes away due to the steep grade, even with the dense forest over it, encouraged by high rainfall.

Trenches in these areas are shallow (to avoid cost and the harder rock as one goes deeper. At 45 degrees, if you measure vertically the depth of eight feet, that gives five and a half feet if you measure vertically from the bottom of the ditch. Subtract three and a half feet for the 42 inch pipe and the coverage is two feet from the top of the pipe to the surface at the closest point. That’s assuming the pipe gets all the way to the bottom of the ditch and the coverage is uniform.

To dig these ditches, the right of way is cleared of trees, the stumps pushed out by “dare devil” bulldozer operators down hill, near the limit they can operate. Then the backhoe starts near the bottom on leveler ground, facing downhill and a cable is stretched from a large bulldozer above the top of the steep grade. Then the cable is reeled in, inch-by-inch as the backhoe digs the ditch. Much of what is dug out clatters down the hillside, rather than staying in place for fill.

The pipe is labored in, setting on the high spots, and welded in place. Finally, the pipe is covered up, stones first which are relatively abundant, with dirt on top to make it smooth. The same thing is done on the ACP pipeline a few miles away in Harrison County, where it is obvious they had to bring in dirt from adjacent areas to get a smooth cover.

Then the abundant rain comes. The rocks along the bottom of the pipe have spaces between them and the area becomes a conduit for water. Before long, the soil on top washes down into the open spaces and is conducted down hill to wash out into a surface stream.

It is somewhere between difficult and impossible to divert water off the right-of-way because of the stony quality of the diverting ditches. With hand work it might be possible, but with bulldozers on steep ground, even the most assiduous driver won’t get it right.

The fact is those pipes will soon be exposed in the steep locations, rubbing against the stone as the steel expands and contracts with temperature change, wearing off the protective coating and then scratching off the rust that will form on the steel pipe. How long will it be until they corrode and/or develop leaks? Who knows when?

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