Highly corrosive brine (residual) wastewater processing facility on Mon River in Fairmont

From an Article of Your Radio Place in Ohio, June 1, 2023

LORE CITY, Ohio–Members of three area fire companies responded to the report of an oil and gas well pad explosion Thursday morning.

Around 10 am Thursday, a explosion was reported at a Utica Resources drilling site on Leatherwood Road (SR 265) near the intersection of Salem Road, located east of Lore City.

According to local fire officials, a storage tank on the site exploded for reasons yet to be determined. The blast was reported by residents nearly 15 miles away.

Members of Lore City, Old Washington and Quaker City Fire Departments responded, and per protocol, staged at the entrance to the pad site. Following the explosion, a small fire was extinguished and situation was quickly brought under control by drilling company personnel on scene.

One worker, close to the blast received minor injuries and was evaluated by Old Washington EMS personnel. The worker refused treatment.

There was no report of nearby property damage and the incident is under investigation by the ODNR, well drilling company personnel and local fire officials.

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WV-DEP: Testing after Fairmont explosion showed no signs of contamination

Articles by C. Allan, WBOY News 12, Posted: May 30, 2023, Updated: May 31, 2023, UPDATE: 5/31/2023, 1:14 p.m.

FAIRMONT, W.Va. (WBOY) — Officials with the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are still assessing the site of a fire that happened at the Fairmont Brine Plant on Tuesday.

According to an update sent to 12 News by a DEP representative early Wednesday afternoon, testing performed by the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources on Tuesday showed that no first responders showed any signs of contamination. “No testing showed above background readings on their bodies,” said a DEP representative.

The representative also said that when the fire was extinguished around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, DEP staff did not see evidence of material or firefighting water leaving the site.

Crews from the DEP, Fairmont Brine Plant and Environmental Protection Agency are currently on site conducting an updated assessment.

UPDATE: 5/30/2023, 7:01 p.m.

FAIRMONT, W.Va. (WBOY) — After previous reports that no evacuation was needed after an explosion at a brine plant in Fairmont on Tuesday, officials from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are now at the site testing for radioactive material.

According to the Marion County Homeland Security & Emergency Management Facebook page, DEP is at the Fairmont Brine Plant on AFR Drive performing various sampling tests of the air and ground. The post said that the operations are contained to the immediate affected area.

The Winfield VFD, Valley VFD, MCRS, Bunner Ridge VFD, Rivesville VFD, Barrackville VFD, Marion County Sheriff, Marion DHSEM, WV DEP, and Mon County Hazardous Response Team all responded.

ORIGINAL: 5/30/2023, 2:59 p.m.

FAIRMONT, W.Va. (WBOY) — A representative with the Department of Environmental Protection has been called following an explosion in Fairmont.

According to the Marion County 911 Communications Center, an explosion was reported at 1:53 p.m. Tuesday at the old brine processing plant on AFR Drive in Fairmont.

When crews arrived on the scene, they reported back that there were no injuries and determined it was not necessary to evacuate the area due to potential chemical leaks resulting from the reported explosion, comm center officials said.

At this time, the Department of Environmental Protection has been notified of the incident and is sending a representative to the scene, according to the comm center.

At the scene were the Winfield, Valley, Rivesville, Barrackville and Bunner Ridge fire departments, also on the scene is the Marion County Rescue Squad as a precaution, comm center officials said.

The Winfield District Volunteer Fire Department is the lead at the scene, according to the comm center. Currently, the crews on scene are following precautionary direction and instruction per the Department of Environmental Protection.

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TIMELINE for Fairmont Brine Processing

> 2009 – Facility was constructed under previous ownership
> Q4 2009 – Venture Engineering & Construction, Inc. (“Venture”) hired by previous ownership to manage construction and commissioning
> Late 2009 – Operations begin (3,500 bbl/day facility)

2010 – Facility encounters increasing and severe metallurgical issues ~ Facility shuts down due to improper materials of construction and process issues

2012 – Facility is acquired by Fairmont Brine Processing, LLC (“FBP”) ~ Venture is hired to redevelop the facility as a 4,000 bbl/day plant

2013 – Pretreatment operations commence

July 1, 2014 – Evaporation & Crystallization process operations commence

October 1, 2014 – Sold 100% of the plant capacity under two take or pay contracts (4,000 bbls /day) through end of 2016.

The Ohio River Valley needs protection for the welfare of all

Notice from the Concerned Ohio River Residents (CORR), 3/27/21

The ever-present threat of oil & gas development is rearing its head again. Two proposed facilities and a new legislative revision could endanger the health of families along the Ohio River. We need your help to stop them.

1. ODNR has granted a draft permit to Powhatan Salt Company to begin constructing the Mountaineer NGL storage facility, which would store flammable, highly explosive natural gas liquids next to (and potentially beneath) the Ohio River. The agency completely ignored dozens of expert concerns about the safety and integrity of the facility. Click here to tell ODNR not to issue final permits for the Mountaineer facility.

2. The Sardis injection well in Monroe County, Ohio, threatens nearby residents with air pollution, groundwater contamination, and the risk of earthquakes. Click here to demand ODNR denies all permits for the Sardis injection well.

3. A proposed legislative change could place the health of Ohio’s frontline communities at risk. The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA) is seeking a revision to Ohio law that would allow for the automatic extension of air permits-to-install (PTI) for major polluting facilities, potentially threatening local air quality and eliminating opportunities for public input. We fought for a 30-day extension to the public comment period—and won. That gives us more time to tell USEPA to deny automatic extensions to Ohio air permits. Click here to let them know where you stand.

Keep reading to learn more about each of these dangerous threats to our community. It only takes a minute to add your name to the fight for Ohio Valley families. Your voice makes a difference!

Contact Us @ CORR Website: www.concernedohioriverresidents.org

Address: Concerned Ohio River Residents, P.O. Box 135, Bridgeport, OH 43912

Email: general@concernedohioriverresidents.org
Phone: (740) 738-3024

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1. Mountaineer NGL Storage Facility’s Solution Mining Permits

This February, more than one thousand community members contacted the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to submit their concerns about Powhatan Salt Company’s permit applications to begin constructing the Mountaineer NGL storage facility, which would store flammable, highly explosive natural gas liquids in salt caverns next to the Ohio River. (Read more about the risks of natural gas liquid storage here.)

Legal experts also outlined fifty-eight technical deficiencies with the solution mining well applications, pointing out their failure to prove the wells would meet all safety standards and industry-recommended practices for NGL storage in solution-mined salt caverns.

Yet, despite overwhelming public concern and glaring technical deficiencies in the company’s application, on March 11, 2021, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) issued a draft permit to Powhatan Salt Company. The official draft permit addressed only eight of the fifty-eight concerns raised by legal experts. Forty-two comments on the safety and technical integrity of the proposed solution mining wells received absolutely no response from ODNR.

ODNR’s failure to respond to — or even acknowledge — dozens of technical deficiencies with Powhatan Salt Company’s solution mining well permits undercuts our right to transparent public information about this project and jeopardizes the health and water access of the five million people who rely on the Ohio River for drinking water.

Click here to tell ODNR not to issue final permits for the Mountaineer facility’s solution mining wells.

See the Comments at www.FrackCheckWV.net for the other current issues.

Above ground storage tanks need rules & regulations

Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition (OVEC) Action Alert, February 19, 2021

Action Alert Comments. … be sure to respond as soon as possible!

The WV Legislature and industry lobbyists have brought back the bill for exemptions to the Aboveground Storage Tank Act as HB 2598, reintroduced this week and expected to make the House Energy and Manufacturing Committee agenda on Tuesday morning, February 23.

Long story short, the bill would deregulate certain aboveground tanks that store hazardous oil and gas waste near public drinking water intakes. For a deeper dive and more information check out West Virginia Rivers’ Fact Sheet.

We need you to take action before the House committee meets at 9 a.m. on Tuesday!

WV Rivers has set up a tool to send all committee members an email, and we suggest also pairing that with a phone call to both the Committee and its Delegates. If you aren’t already on your cell phone, make the switch now so you can just click to dial!

Here’s the example script:

“Hello, my name is _________ and I’m calling to ask you to please say no to HB 2598. All citizens deserve access to safe, clean drinking water, and HB 2598 exempts certain oil and gas tanks closest to our public drinking water intakes from the Aboveground Storage Tank Act, which requires regular inspections and crisis response plans.

Please say no to HB 2598.“

And below is who you can call on the House of Delegates Energy and Manufacturing Committee:

There are a lot of them. We suggest prioritizing delegates from your district or close-by, followed by the chairs and vice chairs.

Happy dialing, and stay warm out there!

-– Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition —

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Chair: Del. Bill Anderson: 304-340-3186; Vice Chair: Del. John R. Kelly: 304-340-3394

Minority Chair: Del. Ed Evans: 304-673-2969; Minority Vice Chair: Del. Dave Pethel: 304-775-5472

Stored Underground NGL Fire and Explosion Hazards for Two Counties in OH and Marshall County in WV

From the Concerned Ohio River Residents, January 25, 2021

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is currently considering a permit application to construct the Mountaineer natural gas liquids (NGL) storage facility 2.5 miles from Clarington, OH, along Ohio Route 7 in Salem Township. The facility would store up to 3.25 million barrels of highly flammable, explosive natural gas liquids (NGLs) in underground caverns near dozens of frack wells and adjacent to the Ohio River, posing a significant threat to our region’s public health and natural resources.

Last Thursday, CORR and a coalition of advocacy groups hosted a community meeting on the the Mountaineer facility. We outlined the specific threats posed by the facility’s construction, including groundwater contamination, air pollution, subsidence, and an increase in fracking and fracking waste. Other underground storage facilities have seen serious and even deadly incidents caused by inadequate regulation, including fires, explosions, chemical leaks, earthquakes, and sinkholes.

How can we be sure a similar disaster wouldn’t happen to Mountaineer? Get the facts they won’t tell us:

Click here to view a recording of our Mountaineer Community Meeting.

Concerned about the Mountaineer NGL Storage Facility? You can help make a difference. Submit a public comment to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources today. You can use our draft template to quickly submit a blanket list of comments to ODNR, but we encourage you to add a few sentences about any specific concerns you may have about the facility. Unique comments carry more weight in the permit evaluation process. How would storing explosive natural gas liquids near the Ohio River affect you and your family?

Click here for more information on how to submit public comment.

Get the Facts on the Mountaineer NGL Storage Facility:

Powhatan Salt Company LLC has applied through the Ohio Department of Natural Resources for three solution mining well permits to begin creating storage caverns in the Salina salt formation, just 2.5 miles north of Clarington, OH along the Ohio River in Monroe County, so that its sister company, Mountaineer NGL Storage LLC can store natural gas liquids (NGL) next to and potentially beneath the Ohio River.

The Mountaineer NGL storage facility would store natural gas liquids like ethane, propane, and butanes extracted from fracking, supporting the industry proliferation and increasing the massive amount of toxic, radioactive waste it generates. To create these storage caverns, Powhatan Salt Company would inject millions of gallons of fresh water underground at high pressures to carve out salt cavities. Powhatan would withdraw approximately 1,928,000 gallons of fresh water each day from the Ohio River to carve out the first storage cavern. More caverns could be constructed to increase storage capacity, each of which would require approximately 380,200,000 gallons of freshwater.

We believe the existing application materials for these wells do not contain enough information for anyone to evaluate the safety of these operations. The applications do not fully consider the possibility of contaminants migrating to underground sources of drinking water, and they include no real emergency response plan. How will we find out if the caverns leak? What will we do if they leak? Without a doubt, local residents will be the ones to suffer the consequences.

Take action today. Click here to submit your concerns to ODNR.

Contact Us:

CORR’s website: www.concernedohioriverresidents.org

Email: general@concernedohioriverresidents.org

§ Concerned Ohio River Residents P.O. Box 135 Bridgeport, OH 43912

Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware will be impacted by this project

Update from the FracTracker Alliance, January 4, 2021

After the Delaware Riverkeeper Network again appealed the controversial construction of a second dock for liquified natural gas (LNG) export in Gibbstown, New Jersey, its construction was re-approved in a Delaware River Basin Commission meeting on December 9th. The project’s opposers continue to raise concerns over the highly risky transportation of LNG and the impacts from LNG production at the New Fortress Energy processing plant in Wyalusing Township, Bradford County, PA.

The Delaware Riverkeeper Network has compiled data in cooperation with Fractracker Alliance to produce maps indicating two probable highway routes and two probable railway routes. Along each of these routes, a two-mile-wide hazard zone and population information are displayed. View the maps here.

After this disheartening development, Empower NJ led a coalition of 100 groups, including FracTracker and Delaware Riverkeeper Network, to stop the the LNG port construction. In a December 23rd letter to Governor Murphy, the coalition expressed their concern and disappointment at the DRBC’s approval of the LNG terminal. “This is just round one, we will fight and keep on fighting no matter what,” said New Jersey Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel.

Delaware Riverkeeper Network plans to challenge the DRBC’s decision in federal court.

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See also: ‘Bomb Trains,’ a New Book on the Deadly, Ongoing Threat of Oil by Rail | DeSmog, Justin Mikulka, July 9, 2019

See also: Forecast for 2020: More Oil Trains, Fires, Spills, and the Rise of LNG by Rail, DeSmog, Justin Mikulka, January 7, 2020

High pressure pipelines in residential areas are clearly a safety issue

From the Daily Local News, Chester County, PA, December 23, 2020

Following an August spill of drilling fluid at Marsh Creek Lake, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection shut down construction and told pipeline builder Sunoco/Energy Transfer to find alternative route.

Sunoco appealed the ruling and Judge Bernard Labuskes Jr. ruled that the PA-DEP should be tasked with making any final decision on a restart at the site that feeds drinking water to residents and businesses to the south along the Brandywine Creek watershed.

The PA-DEP also required Sunoco/ET to restore resources impacted by Mariner East 2 pipeline installation in Upper Uwchlan Township.

The August spill of over 8,000 gallons of drilling fluid, an industrial waste, created a 15-foot wide by 8-foot deep subsidence, adversely impacting wetlands, two tributaries to Marsh Creek Lake, and the lake itself, in Marsh Creek State Park.

The drilling fluid spill caused the park to close off 33 acres of the lake from boating and other recreational uses and access.

Two new subsidences, or sinkholes recently developed in the vicinity of the active 8 inch Mariner pipeline. One sinkhole measures 6 by 9, by 4 feet deep, and the other is 9 feet around and 11 feet deep. The active pipe is about four feet deep.

The Mariner East pipeline right-of-way weaves 350 miles from Marcellus shale deposits in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia to the refinery in Marcus Hook, Delaware County. The pipe passes by more than 40 schools statewide, the Chester County Library in Exton, through a children’s baseball field and high density areas in both Chester and Delaware counties.

“These incidents are yet another instance where Sunoco has blatantly disregarded the citizens and resources of Chester County with careless actions while installing the Mariner East 2 Pipeline,” PA-DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell said. “We will not stand for more of the same.

“An alternate route must be used. The department is holding Sunoco responsible for its unlawful actions and demanding a proper cleanup,” McDonnell said. “To the fullest extent possible under our laws and regulations, we will continue to hold this company accountable for their actions, impacts, and behavior.”

In the Notice of Violation, PA-DEP requested, among other things, that Sunoco provide plans to address the impacts of the drilling fluid spill and subsidence events.

PA-DEP reported that a pipeline reroute in the Marsh Creek area was previously evaluated by Sunoco and found to be technically feasible. The order requires that this technically feasible route be used rather than the current pathway, which has resulted in multiple drilling fluid spills and subsidence in a wetland area.

Former State Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19 of West Whiteland fought the project for several years and recently at Marsh Creek announced for the first time that the project should be discontinued.

“While it’s good to see that PA-DEP taking responsibility for the ongoing and very severe impacts of the Mariner East pipeline project, I hope it will also reconsider and rethink the pipeline route and construction activities that have led to a series of sinkholes and other serious geologic problems along karst formations in the West Whiteland area,” Dinniman said.

State Rep. Carolyn Comitta, D-156th of West Chester, has organized several informational pipeline events.

“I applaud the PA-DEP order to reroute the Sunoco pipeline in Upper Uwchlan Township,” Comitta said. “We’ve seen the continuous violations by Sunoco on our natural resources and the disruption of everyday life in the community.

“Our residents deserve to feel safe at home and know that their right to clean air and water is protected.”

Food & Water Action organizer Sam Rubin released the following statement:

“Sunoco’s negligence has created a series of entirely predictable disasters, the most recent being the massive spill at Marsh Creek Lake. This dangerous, unnecessary pipeline does not need to be re-routed. It must be shut down entirely. The Wolf administration has given Sunoco a green light to pollute communities across the commonwealth, in order to build a dangerous explosive pipeline that only serves to deliver raw materials to make plastic junk. Sunoco’s record of negligence and malfeasance speaks for itself; the only question is whether Governor Wolf will finally protect Pennsylvania from this corporate menace.”

Kurt Knaus, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Energy Infrastructure Alliance: “PA-DEP’s order to reroute this portion of the project is no small matter, especially when you consider the pipe in this area is meant to connect two existing pipes that are already in the ground…….”

“……Communities that thought this project was coming to an end now face potentially many more months of disruption, because this action has the potential of dramatically extending the construction life of a pipeline project that was nearly finished……”

“……The economic impacts are just as real. Hundreds of local jobs are at stake downstream at Marcus Hook and along the line itself because of potential construction delays. This is Pennsylvania’s largest infrastructure project and it remains vital to the entire commonwealth, which is why it needs to move forward, not backward.”

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See also: PA Pipeline Shift Will ‘Share The Wealth’ With Midwest Markets, Michael Sandoval, Inside Sources, December 15, 2020

Energy Transfer’s (ET) recent announcement that it will convert the Mariner East 1 pipeline to help transport refined products from the Midwest to Pennsylvania and the northeast will be a boon to both northeast energy consumers and midwest producers, industry analysts say.

“PA Access will utilize part of our Mariner East 1 pipeline to provide about 20,000 – 25,000 barrels per day of refined products from the Midwest supply regions through our Allegheny Access pipeline system into Pennsylvania and to markets in the Northeast,” the company said in November. The service will begin in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Pipeline installation underway

From the Editor of Morgan County USA, September 21, 2020

A Mountaineer Gas pipeline in Martinsburg, West Virginia exploded this afternoon at about 3:15 p.m. on the Sentz family property on Salvation Road. Anne and Benjamin Sentz were working from home and watching workers dig a trench for a new pipeline that was running by an old pipeline that had gas in it.

“My husband and I were working from home today,” Anne Sentz told Morgan County USA. “We were standing in our kitchen looking out our window watching them dig. We kept an eye on the people doing the work ever since they started. We happened to be watching them dig. They were digging really deep. We heard a bang like they hit metal. All of a sudden there was a loud explosion. Pressurized gas shot up 80 to 100 feet into the air. Six or seven workers just scattered.”

“My husband grabbed me and said – we need to get out of here. I grabbed one dog and he grabbed the other. We just ran to our car. While we were on our way to our car, a worker came to the front of our house and said we needed to go. We just left. I left the door open. We were out of there in 30 seconds. We just drove away. We didn’t know if our house was going to explode or what. We kept on driving. I drove all the way to Shepherdstown.”

“I called 911. They had already received a call about the incident. They put me through to the fire department. I talked to someone from the fire department. They told me they would give me a call when it was safe to come back to the house. It’s 5:30 and we are still not back. We haven’t received the call yet that it is all clear.”

“They had to evacuate in a 330 foot radius we were told. Our neighbors to the right of us were evacuated. Maybe the person across the road was evacuated. I’m not exactly sure how many people were evacuated. Maybe three homes.”

Anne Sentz said that Mountaineer Gas has an easement through their property that is decades old. “It predates our ownership of the property. It predates the house being built. We didn’t grant them the easement.”

“There had been an old pipeline that runs through our yard. We are not even a natural gas customer. It just happens to run through our property. It was being used by Mountaineer Gas to deliver gas to other customers.”

“We were told by Mountaineer Gas months ago that they were upgrading this old line for safety reasons to put in this larger pipeline. They have been digging all day. It’s my understanding that they are not removing the old pipeline while they are putting the new one in.

“Then you have two pipelines running side by side – an old and a new one. And when they were digging the trench to put the new pipeline in, they hit the old pipeline and that appeared to cause the explosion.”

“I do not believe anyone was hurt. But we left within 30 seconds of it happening. I don’t know. It seems to me from my observation that everyone standing around the site got up and ran away. There was no fire. We haven’t been allowed back onto our property to see if there was property damage. I just don’t know.”

“I’ve been watching this operation for a while,” Sentz said. “I am trying to figure out what is going on. The gas company hasn’t been as transparent as they should be to the property owners and neighbors and people affected by this.”

“I was just at the site at 5 p.m. and could still smell the gas,” said Tracy Cannon. “I’ve been watching the pipeline construction in the Eastern Panhandle closely for two years now. I’ve often been concerned about what I saw. Mountaineer Gas Company has been installing new pipeline on Salvation Road without removing the old pipeline first. I was worried that something could go wrong, but I’m still shocked that this happened. Thankfully no one was injured.”

New pipeline alongside questionable old pipeline

Theresa Terry stayed in this “tree house” for three weeks protesting the MVP

From an Article by Mason Adams, Mother Jones Magazine, 5/25/20

“Life in these mountains ain’t always been easy, so people around here take a stand when they see something they don’t agree with—and I’m one of them,” says walrus-mustached Jammie Hale in his thick southwestern Virginia mountain accent. “People that grow up in places like this, seeing their environment destroyed, it stirs them, it causes people to want to get involved, and that’s why I’m here.”

In a documentary-style video produced by Unicorn Riot, a left-wing media collective, in 2018, Hale explains his decision to join a protest movement taking on the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), a 303-mile long, nearly 42-inch-wide pipeline intended to move natural gas from the fracking fields of northern West Virginia to a terminal in southern Virginia that connects to markets and export terminals on the East Coast.

Settled in among the hardwood trees on Peters Mountain, near where he’s been occupying an aerial platform with another (pseudonymous) activist known as Nutty, he talks of his family’s 150-plus years in Giles County, Virginia, and how that history motivates him to do all he can to prevent the pipeline from crossing the Appalachian Trail.

Yellow Finch, as the encampment has come to be called, is giving its full-time activists, most of whom are in their 20s, an on-the-ground education in Appalachian direct action. They’re learning how to talk to media, to establish and maintain a defensible blockade in the forest, and to survive a winter in the mountains, all in a region written off by much of the US as “Trump country.”

Less explored is the region’s significant history of activism that brought together outsiders and locals to resist corporate exploitation, from the labor organizing by Mary Harris “Mother” Jones on behalf of West Virginia miners in the 1910s and ’20s, to the Mountain Justice campaign against mountaintop removal coal mining a century later. Some veterans of the latter campaign are now working with the folks at Yellow Finch, applying lessons learned in the current fight against fossil fuels.

The camp lies at the base of the steep Blue Ridge Plateau; to reach it, you must drive carefully up a twisting mountain backroad and then back down a dirt road that follows a stream. Steep slopes rise up on either side, and the contrast between sides of the hollow stand as a testament to the activists’ success in delaying pipeline construction. On one side, the forest has been stripped bare, replanted with grass, and shored up with silt fences and green, mulch-stuffed fabric socks to prevent erosion. The other side of the hollow, home to the Yellow Finch encampment, remains wooded.

The camp is set about 50 yards up from the road, firmly planted into the hillside. A couple of hastily erected plywood buildings covered in handmade art and cardboard signs serve as a sleeping area and pantry. Tarps nailed to the side of the bunkhouse and nearby trees cover a makeshift kitchen, scattered with dishes, cooking gear, herbal tinctures, nutritional yeast, and other supplies.

The number of activists that call the camp home fluctuates with the weather and the need for additional people to sustain the camp. A 27-year-old activist called Gator fondly describes the camp’s occupants as “a bunch of badass queer anarchists that held it down for a long period of time.” They come from all over and vary in age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and family backgrounds, but they’re united in their desire to protect the mountains.

They found the camp through a variety of paths; several cut their teeth in other movements, organizing against the mining of frac sand, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, mass incarceration, and police violence. They discovered Yellow Finch through word of mouth, on news sites popular with anarchists like It’s Going Down and Unicorn Riot, and Appalachians Against Pipelines, the campaign’s quasi-official Facebook page. Several came after seeing the video that featured Hale.

§ To be continued as Part 2.

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See also: Judge dismisses lawsuit that contested Mountain Valley’s power of eminent domain — Article by Laurence Hammack, Roanoke Times, May 14, 2020

Legal action has failed, once again, to undo the taking of private land for a natural gas pipeline through Southwest Virginia. “This case presents the latest trickle in a veritable flood of litigation” against the Mountain Valley Pipeline, U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg wrote in an opinion last week dismissing the lawsuit.

Three couples with land in the pipeline’s path had sued Mountain Valley and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, alleging that the commission should not have given a corporate venture the right to seize their property by eminent domain.

HOWEVER, LEGAL CASES HAVE RESULTED IN THE FOLLOWING:

Three sets of permits — for the pipeline to pass through the Jefferson National Forest, to cross hundreds of streams and wetlands, and to be built in a way that does not jeopardize endangered species — were set aside after lawsuits were filed by environmental groups.

Construction is currently stalled as Mountain Valley works to regain permits from a variety of federal agencies. Executives with EQM Midstream, the lead partner in a joint venture of five energy companies building the pipeline, said in a conference call Thursday that there was still a “narrow path” to their goal of completing the project by the end of the year.

Lynn & Bill Limpert with 250 year old sugar maple they seek to protect in Bath Co. VA

Commentary by William Limpert, Roanoke Times, April 8, 2020

I want to thank Attorney General Herring for his recent amicus brief to the Supreme Court on behalf of Virginia citizens. He states “The (ACP) pipeline threatens Virginia’s natural resources with no clear benefits.” New evidence bolsters his argument, and indicates significant threats to the health and safety of Virginia residents near the ACP, and the MVP.

Several years ago we learned that the pipes for the ACP and MVP were coated with a fusion bonded epoxy to prevent corrosion, and explosions. We learned that the pipes were exposed to sunlight at large storage yards. We learned that the coating degrades and becomes thinner when exposed to sunlight.

Then we saw four catastrophic pipeline explosions in nearby states.

The pipes for the ACP have now been exposed to the sun for over three years. Inspection reports indicate that most of the ACP pipes showed degrading coating in 2017. PHMSA will not tell us the current coating condition without a FOIA request. We will file that request.

Similar sunlight exposure has occurred with the MVP pipes.

We further learned that the pipe coating contains carcinogenic, mutagenic, and toxic substances that could leach out into our groundwater. Manufacturer 3M admitted that coating degradation products are expected to be toxic to aquatic life.

Persons living downwind from the storage yards may also be inhaling wind-borne degraded pipe coating, which may contain Silica, a carcinogen by inhalation.

We learned here is even more to be concerned about. We learned that gas transmission lines leak. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) allows what they term non-hazardous leaks to continue leaking, and they tell us they don’t know how much is leaking.

Recent studies by the Environmental Defense Fund, and EPA found that, on average, 0.315% of transmission pipeline volume is lost to leaks. Given the large volume of gas transmitted, this is a large volume of pipeline leakage.

The ACP is approved to transport 1.5 billion cubic feet of gas per day. At that volume, a leak rate of 0.315% would discharge an astonishing 4,750,000 cubic feet of leakage per day, or 1.5 cubic feet of leakage per day for every foot of pipeline. Similar leakage rates would be expected from the MVP.

These leaks are probably not uniformly spaced along the pipeline. But on average, if you have 1,000 feet of the ACP going through your property, you may have 1,500 cubic feet of leakage into your ground every day.

What would leak? The biggest constituent in the pipes is methane, but natural gas streams can include ethane, propane, Iso-butane, pentane, heptane, octane, hydrogen sulfide, and aromatic chemicals, including benzene, toluene, and naphthaline.

What are the health and environmental impacts of these chemicals? These chemicals also include carcinogens, mutagens, and toxins. Benzene damages bone marrow, and the central nervous system, is linked to leukemia, and is listed as an environmental contaminant. Butane is described as immediately dangerous to health and life. Hydrogen sulfide is described as very toxic by inhalation. Naphthaline is listed as a carcinogenic agent that can cause retinal hemorrhage. Octane is described as very toxic to aquatic life, with long lasting effects as an acute hazard. Hexane can cause testicular atrophy.

Perhaps the least worrisome of these is methane, an asphyxiant that can cause death, is extremely flammable, and is a potent greenhouse gas.

Are there other undisclosed threats that lie ahead for Virginia citizens, and communities in the crosshairs of the ACP and MVP? There are.

The gas transported in the ACP and the MVP would be obtained from fracking Marcellus shale, which contains naturally occurring radioactive materials. Fracking extracts and concentrates the radioactive materials far underground, where they are safe, and brings them to the surface, where they are dangerous. These radioactive materials, including radon, enter natural gas pipelines. They would likely be discharged into our ground through the pipe leaks, and could seep into our homes.

The US EPA advises that radon causes 26,000 lung cancer deaths each year in our country. EPA also advises that many homes in Virginia already have dangerous radon levels, and require remedial action. We don’t need more radon from the ACP and MVP.

All areas near the pipelines are at risk from these multiple pollutants, but karst areas, where pollutants can travel quickly to homes and private drinking water sources, would be especially vulnerable.

Other Virginia regulators should follow Attorney General Herring’s lead, and act to stop these dangerous projects with no clear benefits.

Exposed pipelines are hazards to suburban neighborhoods

From an Article by Andrew Maykuth, Philadelphia Inquirer, February 27, 2020

State regulators on Thursday finalized a settlement with Sunoco Pipeline to atone for a 2017 leak from the aging Mariner East 1 pipeline that includes a $200,000 fine and a promise to conduct a “remaining life” study of the nearly 90-year-old pipeline.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission unanimously adopted a recommended decision by Administrative Law Judge Elizabeth H. Barnes, which requires the study be completed six months after an independent expert is selected to conduct it. A redacted summary of the study will be released to the public.

The PUC cited Sunoco in 2018 for the April 2017 leak, during which 840 gallons, or 20 barrels, of highly volatile natural gas liquids escaped from a small hole that formed in the eight-inch diameter steel pipeline in New Morgan, Berks County.

The PUC cited Sunoco for having inadequate cathodic protection of the pipeline, which allowed it to corrode and to leak ethane and propane. The material bubbled to the surface and evaporated without causing injury or explosion, but the episode heightened concerns about what might happen if the 300-mile pipeline experienced a larger failure.

Sunoco replaced an 83-foot section of pipe.

The pipeline, built by Atlantic Refining in 1931 to deliver motor fuel and heating oil from its Philadelphia refinery to Western Pennsylvania, was acquired by Sunoco in 1988. Sunoco Pipeline in 2014 patched up and converted the pipeline, now renamed Mariner East, to carry gas liquids from the Marcellus Shale fields to a terminal in Marcus Hook.

Sunoco, a subsidiary of Energy Transfer LP of Dallas, is building two new Mariner East pipelines along roughly the same path as the older pipeline to carry additional gas liquids to its Delaware County terminal. The contentious project, much delayed by construction mishaps, is nearing completion this year. But it is still being litigated in several venues, including the PUC.

The agreement allows Sunoco to recommend three independent experts to conduct the remaining life study, from which the PUC’s Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement will choose one.

The remaining life study, first publicly suggested by Gov. Tom Wolf a year ago, will assess the longevity of the Mariner East 1, including risks. “The information collected in this study will be invaluable for any determinations regarding the operations of Mariner East 1,” Gladys Brown Dutrieuille, the PUC’s chair, said Thursday.

The PUC on Thursday modified the agreement to also require the engineering firm that conducts the study to disclose any previous work for Sunoco or Energy Transfer.

If no adverse comments are received in the next 10 days, the settlement is approved. Sunoco will then have 30 days to recommend experts to the PUC, and the PUC’s enforcement unit will have a month to make a selection. Sunoco will pay the costs of the study.

Barnes, who has heard many of the complaints against the Mariner East project, dismissed suggestions from Sunoco’s adversaries that the fine was too small. She said the $200,000 penalty was reasonable, given that Sunoco had cooperated with investigators, and had agreed to additional conditions, including the study.

The settlement resolves one of several ongoing legal inquiries into Energy Transfer’s conduct in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection in January fined Energy Transfer a record $30.6 million related to the 2018 explosion of its Revolution Pipeline in Beaver County. That agreement lifted an 11-month permit freeze on the company’s other pipeline projects, including the cross-state Mariner East pipelines.

Mariner pipeline route thru Chester and Delaware counties

Energy Transfer also disclosed in November that the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania had issued a subpoena for documents related to the Revolution explosion. The company, in its most recent financial filings, repeated the same language from its November disclosure, and said the scope of the federal investigation is not known.