Stonewall 36" pipe yard WV

Letter to the Editor: 

By April Keating, Mountain Lakes Preservation Alliance

RE:  Large Long-Distance High-Pressure Natural Gas Pipelines in West Virginia

The piece on the front page of the Exponent on September 19th was more of the same: happy words for the coming of the pipeline. This time, the headline seems to suggest that the company has held strong and is now all set to go: “Pipeline Partners Make it Official!”  Hear ye, hear ye! Hooray for the pipeline! It is going to provide jobs, and they are doing an environmental impact statement, and don’t you feel much better now?

We in WV should not let headlines feed our opinions. Make no mistake, this is a for-profit industry. Any protection of our communities is mandated by law, and companies’ donations to schools and local government are as transparent as a kid asking nicely because he knows it’s the way to get what he wants.

Landowners along the line can tell you that this industry is predatory. Land agents for the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley Pipelines have been telling people they might as well sign the contract, lease the access roads, sell the land, because it’s going to be taken eventually by eminent domain. A very important point to be understood about this is that statement is NOT TRUE until the FERC decides to approve these pipelines, which they have not done.

There are people whose farms are in jeopardy, whose life savings, retirement, and businesses are on the line. West Virginia’s water, and by extension the water in 13 states where our water goes, is on the line. These companies send their smiling agents to pressure people to sign away their inheritance, and for what? This is a large-diameter pipeline (42 inch) carrying highly flammable material, the largest that has ever been tried here. An explosion will vaporize everything within 1200 feet and burn everything in a 2-mile radius. If it is going through your property, you lose 25-75% of your property value. How is that a good deal?

And they say it will bring jobs. Anyone can go to the Dominion website and read the reports and see that these reports present conflicting information. There is no way to tell what these projections mean and how they were procured. And they are just projections, after all. The CHMURA report tells us that the number of permanent jobs in WV for the pipeline after the construction period (2 years) is 74. Did you get that? Seventy-four. Not thousands. See the article here.

The environmental destruction for a 42”, high-pressure line in this type of terrain is disturbing to consider when you know what kind of damage such a line can do. Pipelines may be the “safeEST” way to deliver gas, but that doesn’t make them sufficiently safe to run through our communities and backyards. In Upshur County, Dominion wants to run a class II pipe less than ½ a mile from our high school. (For reference, class I is thinnest, class IV is thickest, but there is no federally or state-mandated setback distance.)

This infrastructure is set up for export. As far as we know, setting up distribution stations to reduce the pressure sufficient to allow it safely into homes would be prohibitive. This means it would not be for a public purpose, but for private gain, and that is not sufficient to allow the use of eminent domain. Any land agent who tells you that you will lose it eventually is misrepresenting the case. Landowners can, and should, fight this in court. The taking of private property for corporate gain is contrary to the principles on which our country was founded, it is contrary to WV values, and also happens to be illegal at present.

People take statements like, “The ACP will enhance overall energy reliability in the region, bringing natural gas that will heat homes and power businesses,” (Governor Tomblin) to mean that this gas is going to be available to consumers in WV, the area where it is going through. But it is not. There are compressor stations along the route, but no distribution stations. To build one would cost a community or county approximately $1M. Most counties in WV can barely fund their volunteer fire departments – which, by the way, will be crucial when these pipelines come to town.

If Dominion wants us to cooperate and support this project, then they are going to have to come forward with some believable figures on jobs, taxes, and how they intend to repair the community after an explosion or a negative-impact-on-water event. As it is, with their limited liability and self-insuring, it is difficult to see how they would have the money to cover such a disaster, or even feel the responsibility they claim to feel for all the communities along the 500-mile stretch. And I don’t see West Virginia requiring anything more than promises.

The FERC has been accused of rubber stamping gas infrastructure projects. Considering the thousands of pages of letters of concern from the true stakeholders in this, the public, which includes experts such as lawyers and hydro-geologists, civic engineers and safety personnel, we should be concerned. If you aren’t concerned, you need to do some more research.

Currently, we have a climate crisis on our hands, the gas industry is tanking, and renewables are coming in fast and hard. An article out September 18th from the Washington Post has the headline, “Pentagon bets heavily on sun, wind with major energy projects.” In WV, our gas-heavy culture has been told that we can’t go solar, but Burlington, VT, is now powered by 100% renewables, including solar and hydropower. WV has a bit more sun than Burlington, and we have water, too. In fact, we are a water producer. Instead of destroying it, we could harness it and keep it clean.

As a state that produces water for 13 states and forms the headwaters for 8 major rivers, West Virginia should be at the head of the movement toward renewables. We could save our water, preserve our heritage, and protect the public health, but this is not a battle that can be won from our easy chairs. We must turn off the TV and get out front if we are to have any kind of a habitable future. Consider yourself duly notified. If you aren’t part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

Stonewall 36" pipe installation disturbances

Contact: April Keating, et.al., Mountain Lakes Preservation Alliance, Buckhannon, WV

See also:
Appalmad.org

Mountain Valley Pipeline Route

U.S. Forest Service Extends Comment Period on Mountain Valley Pipeline

Article by Jesse Wright, Associated Press, March 16, 2015

The U.S. Forest Service extended the comment period on whether portions of the Jefferson National Forest can be surveyed for a possible pipeline route.

A special-use permit would be required before surveying could be done in the national forest for the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline.

The Forest Service’s original deadline for comments was February 13th. Comments will now be taken until April 2nd.

The deadline extension is in response to a new permit application filed March 4th  by Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC. Mountain Valley filed the new application because new routes it is considering for the pipeline would cross sections of the forest not covered in previous survey applications.

Forest Service Staff Officer Ken Landgraf said there’s no need to resubmit comments on the previous survey application as those comments are still being considered. He said new comments on the old survey application also will be accepted until April 2nd.

The Mountain Valley Pipeline company wants to survey new sections of the Jefferson National Forest in Monroe County, WV, and three counties in Virginia.

In February, a group of concerned citizens from Monroe County hand-delivered almost 800 letters of protest about the pipeline survey application to the Forest Service’s office in Virginia.

The proposed pipeline would carry natural gas from Wetzel County, West Virginia, to another pipeline in Pittsylvania County, in Virginia.

You can file a comment about Mountain Valley’s survey application by mail, email or fax:
Email: comments-southern-georgewashington-jefferson@fs.fed.us
Fax: (540) 265-5145

Mail or hand deliver: USDA Forest Service, Mountain Valley Pipeline Survey Comments, 5162 Valleypointe Parkway, Roanoke, VA 24019

>>>>>>>>>>>>

George Washington National Forest Grants Permission for Dominion to Survey for Pipeline

Article from Charlottesville (VA) Newsplex, March 17, 2015

Roanoke, VA – Officials with the George Washington National Forest have granted permission for Dominion to survey more than 12 miles of forest land for a proposed natural gas pipeline.

The survey runs along an alternate route that Dominion proposed after facing strong resistance to its original pipeline route. The Atlantic Coast Pipeline would run 550 miles, from West Virginia, through Virginia, and into North Carolina.

This week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is meeting with residents throughout Virginia to get feedback on the proposal. Numerous landowners in Nelson County are suing Dominion to try to prevent them from surveying their land.

>> Press release from George Washington and Jefferson National Forests –

The Forest Service is issuing a temporary special use permit to survey a 12.6-mile segment of the George Washington National Forest for the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline in Highland and Augusta counties, VA. Surveys for wetlands, water, soil, and suitable habitat for sensitive species, including federally listed threatened and endangered plants and animals will be conducted within the next year. Surveys will also record cultural resources and invasive species.

“The information gathered from these surveys is needed for federal agencies to make informed decisions on whether or not to allow construction and operation of the proposed natural gas pipeline, and if allowed, to avoid, or reduce the impacts to sensitive resources,” explains Forest Supervisor Tom Speaks.

Many of the 7,400 comments we received on the survey permit related to concerns about the construction and operation of the proposed pipeline, rather than the surveys. “It is important to remember that allowing these survey activities does not mean we are allowing the construction of a pipeline,” reminds Speaks. We have not received additional requests for surveying National Forest System lands for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), as the lead federal agency, is currently holding public meetings and soliciting comments on the construction of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline. FERC will conduct an in-depth environmental analysis on private and public lands, with many opportunities for public comments.

See also:  www.FrackCheckWV.net