‘ROW’ for MVP in Roanoke County, VA, in July 2018

Letter of Emily Satterwhite, Virginia Mercury, April 15, 2019

In May 2018, Mountain Valley Pipeline confessed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that its plan for stream crossings along its proposed 303-mile fracked gas pipeline had been based on “theoretical desktop analysis” that “did not take site specific constructability issues (elevations, terrain and workspace) into account.”

From May to September, MVP, FERC, and the Army Corps of Engineers communicated with one another about this confession. We only know about this correspondence thanks to the work of a community-based watershed group in West Virginia, which in December filed a letter with FERC outlining its findings from a Freedom of Information Act inquiry.

Before then, all we knew was that on September 24, 2018, MVP requested a project-wide Variance-006 that would allow pipe to be buried more shallowly on either side of streambeds and that the variance was granted the very next day.

In requesting a variance, MVP admitted that if it followed its original vertical scour and lateral erosion plan, construction “would pose increased environmental or landslide risks or be unsafe or impractical due to terrain or geology.”

FERC staff approved the massive changes, essentially allowing MVP to fabricate its own construction standards on the fly, despite reservations from within both FERC and the corps. Documents indicate that Chris Carson, a corps project manager for the Huntington district, cautioned that “no information is provided indicating whether any of the changes would result in additional discharges of dredge or fill material into waters of the United States.”

FERC Senior Consultant Lavinia DiSanto directed MVP to provide a “site specific scenario … for each location that would receive mitigation.” MVP Design Engineer Ricky Myers dismissed DiSanto’s directive as “excessive” and insisted that MVP would abide by its own newly revised rule: they would build as they saw fit and then consult with a monitor after construction.

FOIA documents give no indication that MVP or FERC informed the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection or the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality regarding the MVP—FERC-corps communications about the variance prior to publication on the FERC docket.

Collusion between FERC staff and MVP enables ongoing reckless construction of a massive project that continues to negatively affect water quality and the well-being of people and communities.

If MVP is able to obtain a new Army Corps of Engineers permit (its previous permit was vacated by the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals) and allowed to resume construction in waterways, MVP will do so under its own rogue standards.

FERC commissioners should mandate a supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) that includes the site-specific analysis requested by FERC contractor DiSanto. Virginia’s attorney general and State Water Control Board must issue a stop-work order until such time as the SWCB can assess the effects of variance-006 upon construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline and demand that MVP to do the stream-by-stream homework that Virginia’s DEQ should have required in the first place.

>>> Emily Satterwhite is an associate professor and director of Appalachian studies at Virginia Tech.

Rover Pipeline near Tyler - Wetzel crossing

From an Article by Jeremiah Shelor, NGI Shale Daily, June 13, 2018

Rover Pipeline LLC has agreed to pay a $430,030 civil penalty for numerous sediment and erosion control violations during construction in West Virginia, according to a consent order released by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP).

The order, dated May 15 and signed by a Rover official on June 1, details a series of water pollution violations found during inspections dating back to April 2017 and as recently as April of this year. The alleged violations generally relate to improper controls to prevent runoff during construction in Doddridge, Tyler and Wetzel counties, where the project’s Sherwood and CGT laterals are routed.

The Rover project’s water pollution violations prompted WVDEP to issue cease and desist orders last July and in March that temporarily halted construction in the state, adding to a list of regulatory run-ins for the massive greenfield Appalachian expansion.

Rover, a 713-mile, 3.25 Bcf/d natural gas pipeline designed to transport supply gathered from West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania to markets in the Midwest, Gulf Coast and Canada, increased its daily throughput this month after receiving FERC authorization to place into service several remaining sections of its second and final phase of construction.

But FERC has yet to approve four supply laterals, including the completed Burgettstown and Majorsville lines, potentially limiting supply into the now fully operational mainline.

“Construction on the Rover Pipeline is essentially complete, and the line has received approval from FERC to transport the full 3.25 Bcf/d,” Rover spokeswoman Alexis Daniel told Shale Daily via email. “We anticipate bringing on the four remaining lateral pipelines shortly, and we remain focused on restoring the entire right-of-way, which has always been our commitment to the landowners. We continue to work with the WVDEP on the terms of the consent order.”

Genscape Inc. analyst Colette Breshears said in a note to clients last month that construction on Rover’s CGT and Sherwood laterals appeared to be largely complete but that landslides may have caused delays.

“Continued earth movement/slips along” the remaining laterals could impact Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval of those lines, “which will impact the addition of supply paths to Rover,” Breshears said at the time.

NGI’s daily Rover Tracker on Wednesday showed the pipeline flowing about 2.1 Bcf/d through its Mainline Zone, including about 1.4 Bcf/d delivered into the ANR and Panhandle Eastern pipelines at Defiance, OH, and just under 800 MMcf/d delivered into Michigan to the Vector Pipeline.

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

Read the West Virginia DEP report of violations by Rover here.

==============================

PUBLIC NOTICE FROM WV—DEP on Tuesday, June 12, 2018

The WV Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) and Rover Pipeline, LLC have proposed a settlement of Administrative Consent Order No. 8795 which resolves violation(s) of the WV Water Pollution Control Act which occurred in Doddridge, Tyler & Wetzel Counties, WV. In accordance with the proposed Consent Order, Rover Pipeline, LLC has agreed to pay administrative penalties and to comply with the Act.

Final settlement is subject to comments received during the thirty (30) day period ending July 13, 2018.

Further information about this Administrative Consent Order is available by contacting the Chief Inspector, WVDEP/Environmental Enforcement, 601 57th Street SE, Charleston, WV 25304, (304) 926-0470 or by accessing WV Department of Environmental Protection’s website at:

http://www.dep.wv.gov/pio/Pages/Settlements,Ordersouttopublicnotice.aspx

St. Albans Arts Center, April 21 & 22

Law firm disputes W.Va. water quality permit for pipeline

From an Article by Duncan Adams, Roanoke Times, April 11, 2017

An environmental law firm contends that a West Virginia state agency acted prematurely, relied on incomplete information and otherwise erred last month when granting a water quality permit for the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Appalachian Mountain Advocates, headquartered in Lewisburg, West Virginia, last week notified the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection that the nonprofit law firm seeks a hearing to dispute the department’s issuance in March of an individual 401 water quality certification for the natural gas pipeline project.

The permit allows the pipeline and related access roads to cross streams and wetlands in the project area in West Virginia, where the pipeline would be about 195 miles long.

A nine-page letter from lawyer Derek Teaney to Scott Mandirola, director of the West Virginia agency’s division of water and waste management, detailed a host of objections about the department’s decision to grant the water quality permit.

Among other concerns, Appalachian Mountain Advocates alleged:

• The department had not established current water quality baseline data for streams that the pipeline would cross.
• The department had failed to adequately consider impacts to water quality from land disturbance and subsequent erosion and sediment unrelated to stream crossings.
• Because the pipeline’s route is not yet final and property surveys are incomplete, the “locations and effects of discharges associated with the construction and operation of the Mountain Valley Pipeline [are] ill-defined and impossible to fully evaluate.”
• The department had not adequately evaluated the effects on public drinking water supplies of the pipeline’s construction and operation.

The letter advised Mandirola that Appalachian Mountain Advocates requested the hearing on behalf of 14 individuals – whose properties are either on a current route of the 42-inch diameter buried pipeline or otherwise at risk of being directly affected by the project – and three organizations.

One of the organizations was the West Virginia Rivers Coalition. In an email, Angie Rosser, its executive director, described the outcome sought by the request for a hearing.

“First, WVDEP must go back and require the applicant to submit a complete application,” Rosser said. “That will make it even more obvious that a project of this scale cannot avoid causing or contributing to water quality standards violations.”

She said water quality certification for the pipeline cannot be justified.

“This pipeline threatens some of the most sensitive and ecologically valuable headwaters streams in the state,” Rosser said. “The WVDEP can’t get this wrong.”

Natalie Cox, a spokeswoman for Mountain Valley Pipeline, said the company’s project team and department of environmental protection staff worked diligently to develop comprehensive plans for constructing the pipeline with the least possible impact on streams and wetlands in West Virginia.

“We respect the various opinions of those who may not support the MVP project and remain confident that MVP construction plans, as submitted to the WVDEP for evaluation and public comment, will protect wetlands and streams and meet water quality standards as outlined in the 401 certification process,” Cox said in an email.

The letter from Teaney describes the concerns of three landowners whose two properties in Summers County, West Virginia, are adjacent to the Greenbrier River, which the pipeline will cross. The landowners worry that the project will increase sedimentation and be a source of other pollution in the river.

Separately, the letter reports that landowner Landcey Ragland in Monroe County worries the pipeline would pollute Slate Run, described as “the sole source of drinking water for his livestock.”

Maury Johnson, a Monroe County farmer, also fears the pipeline could affect Slate Run and, ultimately, the well for his home, the letter says.

Teaney declined to talk about the request for a hearing, citing Appalachian Mountain Advocates’ policy restricting comment about pending legal cases.

Under West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection regulations, the agency is not obligated to hold the administrative hearing sought by the organization and its clients. If the department declines the request, Appalachian Mountain Advocates could decide to file a lawsuit and ask a judge to weigh in.

See also:  Greenbrier River Watershed Association

See also:  Appalachian Mountain Advocates

New York State rejects another pipeline

National Fuel’s pipeline project would have crossed more than 190 creeks and streams up through Allegany, Cattaraugus, Erie and Niagara counties, according to the specifications

From an Article by T.J. Pignataro, Buffalo NY News, April 8, 2017

The state Department of Environmental Conservation has rejected National Fuel’s plans for a 97-mile pipeline to carry natural gas from northwestern Pennsylvania to Elma.

The DEC determined there was too big a threat to water quality and wildlife to grant National Fuel the water quality certificate required to construct the Northern Access Pipeline.

“After an in-depth review of the proposed Northern Access Pipeline project and following three public hearings and the consideration of over 5,700 comments, DEC has denied the permit due to the project’s failure to avoid adverse impacts to wetlands, streams and fish and other wildlife habitat,” the DEC announced.

“We are confident that this decision supports our state’s strict water quality standards that all New Yorkers depend on,” the DEC statement added.

A series of public meetings was held on the proposal in February to gauge feelings about the project. Environmental groups and residents raised concern about threats the pipeline posed to water quality, including its planned crossing of Cattaraugus Creek, which is the sole source drinking water aquifer for residents in a 325-square-mile area.

Part of the project would have involved developing a compressor station in the Town of Pendleton along with additional pipeline connections in Niagara County. And, a third part of the project would have included upgrading a compressor station in the Town of Elma.

In all, the pipeline project would have crossed more than 190 creeks and streams in Allegany, Cattaraugus, Erie and Niagara counties.

DEC officials determined National Fuel’s plans did not “avoid or adequately mitigate” impacts that could harm water quality and associated resources.

“Crossing multiple streams and freshwater wetlands within a watershed or basin, including degrading riparian buffers, causes a negative cumulative effect on water quality to that watershed or basin,” the DEC reasoned in its denial.

“If allowed to proceed, the project would materially interfere with or jeopardize the biological integrity and best usages of affected water bodies and wetlands,” the statement added.

[[It is the second large-scale project designed to transport natural gas from wells employing hydraulic fracturing in Pennsylvania that was shot down by the DEC in just less than a year. Last April, the DEC denied a water quality permit to the Constitution Pipeline. Planned by another gas company, the pipeline was to run through the Southern Tier counties of Broome, Chenango, Otsego, Delaware and Schoharie. An appeal in the case is still pending.]]

Opponents of the project celebrated the news Saturday. “This is a huge victory for all of us,” said Kim Lemieux, an organizer of the Pendleton Action Team fighting the project. “I can’t tell you how good I’m going to sleep tonight.”

Another Pendleton resident and a leader of the action team, Paula Hargreaves, said the DEC’s findings confirmed what her organization had been saying all along. “This was going to be so devastating,” Hargreaves said. “For them to agree with us? It’s absolutely brilliant.”

Hargreaves called the DEC’s findings a victory in a single “battle” and said the organization intends to remain vigilant in anticipation of the gas company resubmitting their plans.

National Fuel officials declined to comment until Monday, when the utility will release a statement.

Read the DEC’s full Notice of Denial here

Extensive slippage does extensive damage to landscape in rough terrain

Study Concludes that Dominion Understates Pipeline’s Landslide Potential in Nelson County

From the Friends of Nelson County, Staunton, VA, March 13, 2017

A study of the potential for slope failures and landslides in Nelson County, VA from the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, coupled with a review of Dominion’s in-house analysis, has concluded that “Dominion has not adequately identified those soils and landforms that are prone to debris flows (and) landslides.”  The report also states that “the potential for debris flows in the very steep mountainous portions of Nelson County is underestimated by the reports submitted to FERC by Dominion.”

The author of the report, Blackburn Consulting Services, LLC, was contracted to review, assess, and comment on information submitted by Dominion to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), as related to the construction and operation of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) through Nelson County. The review was limited to information pertaining to soils/soil structure and slope stability, as well as the associated geohazards and erosion/water quality concerns that the ACP project raises for Nelson County.

As part of their work, Blackburn developed a series of predictive maps to better identify the areas with high debris flow potentials and spent three full days in Nelson County traveling to 17 pre-determined sites along the pipeline route to ground-truth their model.  In addition to their visual assessments of the terrain in those areas, four hand-auger borings were performed, and full soil descriptions were completed from 14 soil pits dug using a mechanical excavator.  Three of the sites were located near the Wintergreen entry on Rt. 664—proposed as the exit point for a 4500-foot tunnel through the Blue Ridge—where they found evidence of a history of numerous debris flows.

Blackburn also reviewed documents submitted by Dominion to FERC through December 1, 2016. Soil scientists looked at the information Dominion was using to determine the pipeline route, soil types along that route, slope stability and erodibility.

The scientists found that Dominion has been using inadequate and inappropriate data sets to assess the soils and identify the landslide risk potential along the pipeline route in Nelson.

The report states: “(The) review has discovered that, due to the reliance on this regional-based and publicly available information, many of the statements made in Dominion’s FERC filings represent gross generalities. Dominion has not adequately identified those soils and landforms that are prone to debris flows/landslides, nor have they adequately addressed how they plan to mitigate those site-specific hazards that can put people, property and water quality at extreme risk.”

“Given the types of soils that the soil/scientists observed during their site work on Nelson’s steep slopes (loose uncompacted soils on slopes that measured as steep as 83%), it is obvious that the erosion potential of these slopes is much higher than Dominion is reporting,” said Randy Whiting of Friends of Nelson.  “Considering the anticipated difficulties Dominion is expected to have with revegetating the pipeline right-of-way—both during and after construction—it becomes apparent that combining Nelson’s soils, slopes and this proposed pipeline is a recipe for disaster.”

“After reading this report, what scares me even more are the places where they want to install the pipeline along our narrow ridgetops,” said Joyce Burton of Friends of Nelson, referring to ridgetops such as those on Roberts Mountain. “There is no way to clear and flatten a 125’ construction right-of-way on a ridge that is only 60’ feet wide without severely impacting the landslide-prone slopes on either side.”

“We are calling on FERC to rescind the current DEIS and demand that Dominion follow these scientists’ recommendations to perform a more thorough assessment of the landslide risks in Nelson before the approval process is allowed to proceed any further,” Burton concluded.

Blackburn Consulting Services, LLC has over 50 years of experience in mapping and evaluating soil characteristics for a variety of purposes—ranging from agriculture and forestry to land development, environmental and wastewater disposal. They are licensed Professional Soil Scientists and On-site Soil Evaluators in the State of Virginia and nationally certified through the Soil Science Society of America.

The report was a joint project of Friends of Nelson, Friends of Wintergreen and Wintergreen Property Owners Inc.

The full report is available at: http://friendsofnelson.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Final-Steep-Slope-Report-March-2017.pdf

Natural gas pipe stacked for quick retrieval

Mountain Valley Pipeline Public Notice on Permit Applications

Public Notice Information, WV-DEP, Compiled from Internet Sources, March 10, 2017

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection – Division of Water and Waste Management will hold public hearings regarding the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline project for State 401 Water Quality Certification, Natural Streams Preservation Act Permit, and for Oil and Gas General Water Pollution Control Permit. Comments can be made by letter or email.

Please note that you can mention that your comments apply to all three permits, rather than sending three separate mailings.

Please send comments before March 19th for the MVP permits listed below to either this email address: DEP.Comments@wv.gov or by regular mail to the address listed below (Attn: Sharon Mullins).

1. WV Natural Streams Preservation Act Permit

2. WV State 401 Water Quality Certification and Oil

3.  WV Gas General Water Pollution Control Permit

The Mountain Valley Pipeline project is comprised of approximately 195 miles of natural gas pipeline along with compressor stations, meter stations, access roads, and interconnects through: Wetzel, Harrison, Doddridge, Lewis, Braxton, Webster, Nicholas, Greenbrier, Fayette, Summers, and Monroe Counties in West Virginia.

>>> The associated Oil & Gas Construction Stormwater General Permit (WVR310667) would be for the discharge of stormwater associated with the disturbance of 4,214 acres of land for the of construction of this project.

>>> The Natural Streams Preservation Act permit (NSP-17-0001) being sought is for a proposed crossing of Greenbrier River in Summers County near Pence Springs.

>>> The State 401 Water Quality Certification (WQC-16-0005) would be for activities that will or may discharge fill into waters of the State. Mountain Valley Pipeline project is proposing to mitigate for the streams and wetlands permanently impacted by this project.

Any interested person may submit written comments on the Oil & Gas Construction Stormwater General Permit, the Natural Streams Preservation Act Permit, and/or the State 401 Water Quality Certification by addressing such to the Director of the Division of Water and Waste Management during the comment period, which ends on March 19, 2017 at 8 PM. Comments or requests should be emailed to dep.comments@wv.gov or by mail addressed to:

Director, Division of Water and Management, DEP
ATTN: Sharon Mullins, Permitting Section
601 57th Street SE
Charleston, WV 25304-2345

Applicant Type Permit ID:
Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC Oil & Gas Construction Stormwater General Permit WVR310667
Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC State 401 Water Quality Certification WQC-16-0005
Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC Natural Streams Preservation Act Permit NSP-17-0001

Additional Information

State 401 Water Quality Certification application (WQC-16-0005) (This is a large PDF file, which may take a moment to download and view)

Natural Streams Preservation Act permit application (NSP-17-0001) (This is a large PDF file, which may take a moment to download and view)

​Oil & Gas Construction Stormwater General Permit (WVR310667)

Instructions for navigating the Oil and Gas Construction Stormwater General Permit webpages

>>> Contact: Laura K. Cooper, Assistant Director – Water Quality Standards

Division of Water and Waste Management, WV Department of Environmental Protection

Office:  304-926-0499 x1110  Mobile: 304-206-8901

Email:   Laura.K.Cooper@wv.gov

Room 2169, 601 57^th St SE; Charleston, WV

Simulated View of MVP from Appalachian Trail

MOUNTAIN VALLEY PIPELINE – The 401 Permit Application for Construction has been filed with WV-DEP. Comments may be made any time.  The 401 Certification is required to permit the entry to or crossing of streams where stream flows may be interrupted and/or sediment, subsidence or dissolved chemicals may affect the stream.

  http://www.dep.wv.gov/news/Pages/Public-Comment-Period-on-Mountain-Valley-Pipeline-401-Water-Quality-Certification-Extended.aspx

 The 401 certification for the Mountain Valley Pipeline has not yet been issued or denied. Public comments are still being accepted and can be emailed to: DEP.comments@wv.gov.

They can also be mailed to the WV-DEP headquarters, the address is below. There may be a public hearing or hearings, but nothing has been scheduled yet.

Source: Kelley J. Gillenwater, Chief Communications Officer, West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, 601 57^th St. SE, Charleston, WV  25304

Telephone: 304-926-0499, ext. 1331

 >  >  >  >  >  >  >  >  >  >

Two excellent sources of information on negative impacts of Mountain Valley Pipeline.

1. APPALACHIAN TRAIL CONSERVANCY had a whole new web page, with easy to use letters and links. https://www.appalachiantrail.org/home/conservation/advocacy/conservation-current-issues-full-story/advocacy—current-issues/2016/11/18/mountain-valley-pipeline-project-threatens-ecosystems-and-landscape-of-virginia-and-west-virginia 

2. New blog on APPALACHIAN TRIALS (note spelling) a widely read online source among AT hikers has lots of details about negative impacts of MVP

http://appalachiantrials.com/a-modern-day-threat-to-the-at-the-proposed-mountain-valley-pipeline/

GREENBRIER RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION

Thanks for your support of the Greenbrier River Watershed Association over the past year, and for some of you, for many years.  You are receiving our email newsletters, which come out about twice a month. They contain information which we hope you have found useful.  Also, if you have not recently been to the website, www.greenbrier.org, please visit us there.  It has undergone changes that you will like.  We are also on Facebook at Greenbrier Watershed.

Send the following information with your check:  Name, Address & Email.  We do not share our mailing list with any outside source.  All contributions are tax deductible.  Please indicate if you need a return letter documenting your contribution for tax purposes.

Sincerely, John Walkup, President, Greenbrier River Watershed Association, P.O. Box 1419, Lewisburg, WV 24901         (304-647-4792)

The Greenbrier River Watershed Association would like to thank each and every one of you for your support in the past year. We wish you a very Happy New Year!!!!

 See also:  www.greenbrier.org

See also:  www.pipelineupdate.org

Chesapeake Climate Action Network

Over 16,000 Citizens Demand Unbiased Review of Proposed Fracked Gas MVP Pipeline

Article from the Press Room, Appalachian Voices, 12/22/16

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Over the past three months, more than 16,000 people have sent comments or signed petitions to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) demanding the agency do a thorough, accurate and unbiased review of the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline, and ultimately reject the project. Local groups and environmental organizations submitted hundreds of detailed comments to FERC outlining numerous reasons finding the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) substantially lacking information for meaningful review. FERC’s deadline for public comment is today.

Just yesterday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an official “cooperating agency” during the project review, filed its comments with FERC, finding the environmental review “incomplete” and “insufficient,” and said there are hazards that “have not been fully assessed.”

The proposed pipeline passes through important habitat in the Jefferson National Forest and would have devastating impacts on the New River Valley and surrounding areas. There are many substantial deficiencies in the DEIS that must be corrected through the issuance of a completely revised DEIS, including the failure to fully evaluate the need for the MVP and the failure to fully evaluate the impacts to water resources, wetlands, cultural resources, threatened and endangered species, and climate change implications. Correcting these deficiencies will require significant new analysis and the incorporation of high quality and accurate information regarding MVP impacts.

Legal and environmental experts have filed review comments of the nearly 2,600-page document that identified major gaps in FERC’s analysis, including:

• Failure to identify, consider, and analyze all reasonable alternatives. The DEIS fails to consider alternative routes and options, including a “no action” alternative, as required by the National Environmental Protection Act. The Council on Environmental Quality refers to the alternatives analysis section as the “heart of the EIS”.
• Failure to consider climate change impacts. FERC does not analyze the significance of the total annual greenhouse gas emissions in any meaningful way.
• Failure to address the need for the MVP. Despite the clear requirement to discuss the need for the MVP project in the DEIS, FERC says that it will not address project need until after the environmental analysis is over.
• Failure to provide adequate environmental information. The DEIS lacks sufficient information about the MVP and its potential environmental impacts on a wide variety of resources, including water resources, wetlands, cultural resources, threatened and endangered species, and climate change implications.

In addition to significant flaws, there is a significant amount of information regarding other environmental impacts that is missing from the DEIS that will not be provided by the applicants in a manner that facilitates meaningful public disclosure and participation.

David Sligh, Conservation Director, Wild Virginia, 434-964-7455, davidwsligh@yahoo.com
“FERC must revise the draft EIS to correct gross deficiencies in information and flawed analyses. Wild Virginia calls on the federal Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service to insist on a new and adequate DEIS from FERC, or to fulfill their legal duties and prepare their own.”

Ben Luckett, Senior Attorney, Appalachian Mountain Advocates, 304-645-0125, bluckett@appalmad.org
“We’re shocked the FERC has continued to disregard its federal duties and fast track this project — especially given major gaps in the agency’s understanding of the pipeline’s impacts, as well as any need for it in the first place. FERC has the extraordinary power to allow MVP to take private property for its shareholders’ own private gain. Just because the job of evaluating the impacts of such a massive project is difficult doesn’t mean that FERC may cut corners and ignore its important duty to the public. FERC should not proceed forward, sacrificing family land and other private property, without fully analyzing this destructive and unnecessary pipeline.”

Lara Mack, Virginia Field Organizer, Appalachian Voices, 540-246-9720, lara@appovices.org
“FERC woefully underestimated the impacts the Mountain Valley Pipeline will have on the Appalachian mountains, wildlife habitat, water resources, and communities. If FERC did it’s job correctly, with the public interest in mind, it would see this project for what it is — a dangerous boondoggle.”

Andrew Downs, Regional Director, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, 540-904-4354, adowns@appalachiantrail.org
“Through a deficient level of planning and environmental impact assessment, the MVP project represents a threat not only to the purpose and values of the Appalachian National Scenic Trail but, by undermining the United States Forest Services’ protection of the AT, it represents a fundamental and existential threat to the entire National Trails System”

Anne Havemann, General Counsel, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, 240-396-1984, anne@chesapeakeclimate.org
“FERC’s draft environmental review utterly ignores the pipeline’s full impacts on the climate. The limited–and opaque–review fails to fully account for methane pollution from increased fracking that the pipeline would trigger, from leakage along the route, and from the ultimate burning of the gas. The pipeline would fail the White House’s climate test. FERC must revise its review to include the pipeline’s full lifecycle of climate pollution, and consider clean energy alternatives.”

Laurie Ardison, POWHR Co-Chair, Monroe County, WV 304-646-8339
ikeandash@yahoo.com
Ellen Darden, POWHR Co-Chair, Montgomery County, Va. 540-230-1091
greennrv.ellen@gmail.com
“The people of Appalachia stand united in an unprecedented interstate coalition: Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights (POWHR), to make clear to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the United States Forest Service, the US Army Corp of Engineers, US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management that Mountain Valley Pipeline has failed to establish a need for this destructive project.

FERC’s DEIS summarily ignores the detailed, credentialed hydrogeologic, economic, historical preservation and cultural attachment research submitted by the POWHR coalition and hundreds of landowners opposed to MVP. Rather than interfering and obstructing public opposition to MVP, FERC must review the entire body of scientific research submitted and reject this project.”

Kirk A Bowers, PE, Pipelines Campaign Coordinator, VA Chapter, Sierra Club, 434-296-8673, kirk.bowers@sierraclub.org
“The Draft EIS is blatantly biased. It makes sweeping unsubstantiated claims of the need for the pipeline while dismissing any and all potential adverse effects. The applicant provides cursory responses to data requests in a perfunctory manner without analyses or serious consideration of the adverse effects of the proposed pipeline. The applicant has failed to make reasonable efforts to avoid and minimize adverse effects on communities, landowners and ecosystems impacted by the proposed pipeline. In light of the incompetent and unprofessional manner in which the application has been handled by MVP LLC, it is incumbent on FERC to reject the application.”

See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net

www.PipelineNetwork.org

Fight the Mountain Valley Pipeline!

From Appalachian Voices: http://appvoices.org/fracking/fight-mvp/

On September 16, 2016, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released its Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline. The 42-inch pipeline would transport natural gas from wells in West Virginia and stretch 301 miles over sensitive agricultural and forest lands — including a crossing of the Appalachian Trail — before reaching its destination in southern Virginia.

The FERC staff state in the draft impact statement that the project will have permanent adverse impacts on forests, yet it believes that the project can move forward!

Take Action: Tell the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

FERC needs to hear from the public. The potential for injury or property damage along the pipeline route is real. The pipeline puts public health and safety at risk — whether from an explosion, or from leaks that pollute drinking water, soil, and air. In addition, constructing the pipeline will spoil thousands of acres of forest and permanently fragment habitats for several federally-listed threatened or endangered species.

There is a 90-day public comment that opened with the release of the draft impact statement. This is your best opportunity to make sure FERC hears your voice. Submit an electronic comment on our No Mountain Valley Pipeline Action page. You can also attend one of the official FERC public listening sessions. At these sessions you will have the opportunity to offer your comments for the official FERC record. All comments must be submitted on or before December 22, 2016.

FERC Public Listening Sessions:

November 1, 2016

• Chatham Va. — Chatham High School — 100 Cavalier Circle, 5 p.m.
• Weston, W.Va. — Lewis County High School — 205 Minuteman Drive, 5 p.m.

November 2, 2016

• Rocky Mount, Va. — Franklin County High School, 700 Taynard Road, 5 p.m.
• Summersville, W.Va. — Nicholas County High School — 30 Grizzly Road, 5 p.m.

November 3, 2016

• Roanoke, Va. — Sheraton Hotel, 2801 Hershberger Road, 5 p.m.
• Peterstown, W.Va. — Peterstown Elementary School, 108 College Drive, 5 p.m.

November 9, 2016

• Coal Center, Pa. — California Area High School, 11 Trojan Way, 5 p.m.

Source:

Appalachian Voices • 589 West King Street, Boone, NC 28607 • (877) APP-VOICE
Background information: About | Contact Us | News Room | Policies

Pipeline routes not certain

Informational Update on Proposed 42” Mountain Valley and 42” Atlantic Coast Pipelines

Thursday, October 20, 6:00 p.m., Jackson’s Mill, West Virginia Building, Jane Lew, WV

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If you live in Wetzel, Harrison, Doddridge, Lewis, Braxton, Upshur, Randolph, Pocahontas, Webster, Nicholas, Summers, Greenbrier, Monroe, your county will be affected.

What you must know in order to be protected

Topics will include: (1) Loss of Property Values and Future Land Use, (2) Effect on Insurance & Mortgages, (3) The Incineration Zone and Impact Radius,  (4) Impact on Water Supplies, (5) Do we really need two 42” Pipelines? (6) Is Any of this Gas for West Virginia? (7) How Compressor Stations Affect Your Health, (8) Why aren’t we exploring the alternatives? (9) Economic Losses to Counties, (10) Eminent Domain Abuse and Your Rights.

Expert Presenters will be available to answer YOUR questions and help you file your comments with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Public comment period is open till December 22, 2016

You may call 304-642-9436  for more information

Source: April Pierson-Keating, Buckhannon (Upshur County), WV.  304-642-9436

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Atlantic Coast Pipeline signs (tentative) construction contract

From an Article of the Staff, WHSV News 3, Richmond, September 21, 2016

Richmond, Va. (WHSV) – The Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a 600-mile natural gas transmission line proposed to run from West Virginia through Virginia to North Carolina, is one step closer to reality.

On Wednesday, Dominion announced that the company has signed a construction contract with Spring Ridge Constructors, LLC, which is a joint venture of leading natural gas pipeline construction companies.

The venture is comprised of four companies: Price Gregory International, Inc., a Quanta Services, Inc. company; U.S. Pipeline, Inc.; SMPC, LLC; and Rockford Corporation, a Primoris Services Corporation company.

Spring Ridge Constructors are signed on as the lead construction contractor for the pipeline project, though the pipeline has yet to be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

If the pipeline is approved, Dominion has construction scheduled to begin in the fall of 2017.

Dominion says that economic impact studies show construction of the pipeline would generate more than 17,000 jobs, $2.7 billion in total economic activity and $4.2 million in average annual tax revenue for cities and counties in the project area.

Studies sponsored by the Southern Environmental Law Center and Appalachian Mountain Advocates say existing pipelines can supply more than enough fuel through 2030, but Dominion points out a growing demand for natural gas in the states affected by the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

Dominion selected Spring Ridge Constructors (SRC) after an extensive bidding process conducted by Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC. They say the four companies encompassed by SRC account for a significant portion of the large-diameter natural gas pipeline construction spread capacity in the U.S.

“We are excited to work with SRC, which has assembled four of the nation’s leading and most-qualified pipeline builders for this project,” said Diane Leopold, president of Dominion Energy. “These companies have extensive experience in building large-scale, complex projects like the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, and their commitment to safe construction practices and best-in-class standards align with our expectations for the project.”

“The selection of our lead construction contractor is another significant milestone for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline and represents one more step toward making this project a reality and securing the energy future of our region,” Leopold added.

“SRC is pleased to have been selected by ACP as the constructor of this vital project which serves to strengthen the nation’s energy infrastructure,” said Dan Plume, SRC project director. “The members of SRC are aligned in purpose with the common goals of safe construction practices, a commitment to environmental stewardship and quality construction. The SRC team leads the industry with a combined 200 years of expertise and leadership in the construction of large diameter pipelines that encompass all regions and terrains across North America. We are also excited about the positive economic impact this project will have in communities across these three states, where SRC and its subcontractors expect to hire thousands of local workers and enlist the services of many local businesses.”

In what Dominion calls “another significant milestone for the project,” the FERC issued a ‘Notice of Schedule’ in early August, which establishes a timeline for the remainder of the project’s federal environmental review process.

Based on that schedule, Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC expects to receive a FERC certificate in the late summer or fall of 2017, and they would begin construction shortly after. Following that same timeline, the pipeline would be completed and in service by late 2019.

The company is working with its contractors to try and find ways to complete construction even sooner.

Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC is composed of four major U.S. energy companies – Dominion, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas and Southern Company Gas. The joint venture partners plan to build and own the $4.5 billion-to-$5 billion pipeline, which would help meet the growing clean energy needs of Virginia and North Carolina by providing direct access to low-cost, abundant supplies of natural gas being produced in the nearby Marcellus and Utica shale basins of West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

The pipeline has been a major source of contention among people living in counties where it will pass through, like Augusta and Nelson Counties, and WHSV has covered protests, studies, debates, and far more in connection with the pipeline throughout recent years.

See also: www.FrackCheckWV.net