Object to FERC rubber-stamp approvals

Mountain Valley has asked FERC for a 2-year extension to complete construction of the pipeline. MVP is now 2 years behind schedule and more than $2 billion over budget. Isn’t it time to pull the plug on this fossil fuel fiasco?

PLEASE SPEAK UP to OBJECT. Submit your comment and objection to FERC ASAP (September 10 at the latest!)

(Submit to FERC by Thursday, September 10 to avoid last-minute internet issues. Final deadline is Friday September 11 at 5:00 pm.)

This may be the last point at which you can formally object to FERC’s rubber-stamp approvals of MVP’s badly conceived and poorly implemented project. We are encouraging as many people as possible to make a Comment.

HOW? … Here’s a step by step guide for Using the FERC website to submit an eComment. (The simplest way to comment.)

WHAT to say? Be sure to include in your comment that you are asking that FERC deny MVP’s extension request and reference docket number CP16-10-000.

Below is a sampling of topics you might consider as reasons for your objection. Speak about how these conditions would be harmful if continued for the next two years. Choosing one or two is fine, or there may be other issues you want to present:

  • Clean water issues including evidence in both Virginia and West Virginia of fines levied against MVP for violations such as sediment washing into streams, topsoil erosion and negative impacts on wells and springs. Hundreds of citizen complaints and aerial photos have documented MVP’s poor management of environmental controls. Most remaining miles involve critical water and wetland crossings where MVP’s mismanagement will do even more damage.
  • Damage to fragile karst geology including slope failure and sinkhole collapses at locations like Peters Mountain and Canoe Cave in VA, and dangers to private and public water supplies.
  • Safety concerns such as evidence of shifting pipes in the ground, steep slopes with continued slippage problems, pipes standing exposed for extended periods with chemical coating that is now shedding.  NEWS: MVP has indicated it may increase the amount of gas from 2 billion cubic ft/day to 2.5 bcf/d, which will increase gas pressure and the blast zone.
  • Community health concerns about increased exposure to Covid-19 from out-of-state crews continuing a long-term presence.
  • Evidence of decreasing market in target areas for natural gas—e.g., North Carolina DEQ Secretary Regan’s recent statement on denying 401 certification for MVP’s Southgate extension project: “DEQ has questioned the need for the MVP Southgate project since our initial comments to FERC. This has always been an unnecessary project that poses unnecessary risks to our environment.”
  • Accelerating impacts of fossil-fuel-related climate change on our weather, farms, forests, health, economy, security … or whatever else concerns you.

PLEASE LET US KNOW:  Send us a note that you plan to Comment to FERC. Just Reply (not Reply all) to this email. Reply if you have questions, too. Thank you!!

For inspiration, please read the following Letter to the Editor in this week’s Monroe Watchman by Monroe County resident Suzie Henritz.

Dear Editor:

As we slog our way through 2020 consumed by the Corona virus, political strife, racial injustice and problems with the Post Office I would like to bring up another seemingly forgotten issue, the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP).

As a collateral damage citizen (one who is in the blast zone – but the pipeline is on an adjacent property) it has come to my attention that MVP wants to increase the amount of gas coming through the pipe by 25%.

To add insult to injury many of the pipes not buried yet, have been laying above ground for years. This means that the protective coating has degraded due to its exposure to sunlight. According to Bulletin 12-78-0 of the National Association of Pipe Coating Applicators, “The intended use of these coatings is to provide corrosion protection for buried pipelines. Above ground storage of coated pipe in excess of 6 months without additional Ultraviolet protection is not recommended.”

To make matters worse the pipeline wall thickness in rural areas is already thinner than that in more densely populated areas. Which leads me to believe that country folk are more expendable than city folk in the eyes of the regulators.

Degraded pipe, thinner pipe and increased pressure could lead to a massive explosion. As a dear departed friend once said: “I would like to be cremated but not while I am still alive.”

We need to care about what is happening around the world but we also need to take care of ourselves at home. We need to demand that any overexposed pipes be replaced. Better yet, we need to have the MVP cancelled.

Comments are closed.