How the Mountain Valley Pipeline Will Impact the Environment & Communities

Jun 8, 2021 | 2021, Environment, Public Participation, State Politics | 0 comments

By Ali Berens, JMU ’22, Sociology with a concentration in Environment, Technologies, and Innovations and is also minoring in Environmental Studies

The Mountain Valley Pipeline is a natural gas pipeline that will run about 303 miles across state boundaries from West Virginia to Virginia. The pipeline will cross multiple national forests, the Appalachian Mountains, and will run over the Appalachian Trail. The pipeline is proposed to transport about 2 million dekatherms (about 2 billion cubic feet) of natural gas per day. Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC’s website claims that the total project is already about 92% complete. However, some argue that that number is misleading as progress reports filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission show that only about 50% of the pipeline is complete to final restoration. The road of construction has been long and tumultuous for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which was first proposed in 2014, and has faced a tremendous amount of legal challenges delaying the construction. It is now posed to be completed and in-service by the summer of 2022, making it years behind schedule and has doubled its budget, reaching $6.2 billion now.

How is it Regulated?

Because the pipeline is an interstate project, it is regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) who issued a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and an Environmental Impact Statement before they could start construction. It is also subject to review from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service, along with many permits needed from other state and federal agencies. Many of these permits were rushed when the Trump Administration took office, which resulted in cutting corners and allowed for legal battles to stall construction. After only one year of construction, the Commonwealth of Virginia sued Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC for over 300 violations of Virginia state laws, which resulted in $2.15 million in fines to the pipeline and required a third-party to constantly monitor operations. Even more legal battles ensued targeting the pipeline’s right to eminent domain, which is the right to take private property and use it for public use, if just compensation is provided to the landowner. Lawsuits have been brought up by many landowners who argued that the FERC should not have the legislative power to delegate the right of eminent domain to a private company, but they have all been stricken down.

Environmental Impacts

Vegetation Clearance

The most visible environmental impact of the pipeline is the massive clearance of vegetation needed for construction, at 4,856 acres of forest being cleared across Virginia and West Virginia and in the path of five threatened or endangered species. The pipeline runs 303 miles across both states and needs a 125 foot wide clearance for construction and a permanent 50 foot clearance over the pipeline. This affects the habitat of wildlife and has displaced many animals, affected bird nesting, and resulted in the death of many animals during construction. The clearance of forest also results in a loss of carbon stock, which is the carbon that is released from the stores of the trees when they are cut down, further contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission described the impact on forests as the number one adverse impact in their Environmental Impact Statement on the pipeline.

Landslides

67% of the route of the pipeline will cover areas with a high susceptibility to landslides, and the steep terrains of the mountains of Virginia and West Virginia the pipeline runs through increases that risk. The Mountain Valley Pipeline has already caused a few landslides during construction, one of which threatened residential homes. Landslides can rupture pipelines, which has resulted in many explosions in the past. In fact, interstate pipelines have exploded or caught fire 137 times since 2010 in the US.

Water Quality and Erosion

The Mountain Valley Pipeline crosses 1,108 bodies of water, which brings up issues of erosion of sediment flowing into streams that affect water quality. In the lawsuit between Virginia and Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC, the latter was accused that construction crews were “keeping inaccurate records, failing to install water control features, and letting sediment leak into streams,” resulting in violations of state water standards. In addition, crossing of wetlands and streams must be done within 72 hours in order to ensure safety and water quality. However, the pipeline has taken up to 4-6 weeks for some water crossings, resulting in courts revoking a permit for waterway crossings given under the Clean Water Act, halting construction for about two years.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Research by Oil Change International shows that the Mountain Valley Pipeline will emit about 90 million metric tons of greenhouse gases annually, meaning that it will become the single largest greenhouse gas emitter in Virginia once fully in operation. It will emit about the same amount of emissions equivalent to 26 US coal plants or 19 million passenger vehicles per year.

Methane Leakage

On top of the operational greenhouse gas emissions of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, pipelines are prone to leaks occurring, which can happen through compressor stations or leaks in the pipes. The main component of the natural gas that the pipeline will be transporting is methane, which is a very potent greenhouse gas. In fact, methane warms the planet by 86 times as much as carbon dioxide in the first two decades of emission. A study by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) found that the U.S. oil and gas industry is leaking 13 million metric tons of methane each year, putting the methane leak rate at 2.3 percent. The creation of the Mountain Valley Pipeline will just add to this number, and another study by the EDF found that when the methane leak rate reaches 3 percent, transitioning to natural gas will not be more beneficial than remaining using coal power plants. Even though coal power plants emit much more greenhouse gas, the methane leakage resulting from natural gas operations can start to equalize that number. This brings up questions of whether we should be investing in creating pipelines for natural gas, when it is close to being no cleaner than previous coal plants.

Climate Change

Human produced greenhouse gas emissions are creating climate change, and are creating dangerous living conditions for humans on the Earth. The best way to fight climate change is to reduce emissions of these greenhouse gases and to start reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. In the midst of this climate crisis, we should not be investing in and creating demand for natural gas during a time where we need to be reducing this demand and access to fossil fuels. The $6.2 billion dollar budget for the Mountain Valley Pipeline and the huge amounts of money going into many other proposed pipelines right now could instead be used to support renewable energy sources. The creation of the Mountain Valley Pipeline is a huge step back in the transition to clean energy, and will further contribute to the warming of the planet at a time when our greenhouse gas emissions are already much too high.

Environmental Justice

All too often, fossil fuel infrastructure disproportionately impacts Black, Indigenous and communities of color, along with low-income and rural communities. Environmental justice concerns have been raised about Mountain Valley Pipeline’s proposed compressor station to be built in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, “within five miles of four environmental justice communities with strong African American and American Indian roots.” In addition, there is already an existing compression station near the area, and putting another one in will double the burden of pollution for residents. A study found that pipelines are disproportionately located in counties that are considered “socially vulnerable,” which measures how resilient communities might be to natural disasters, and also takes account of race and social class as a measure. Pollution caused by pipelines and gas infrastructure has many adverse health effects for the residents who live near them, including being linked to causing respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Gas infrastructure is disproportionately located near communities of color and low-income communities and can cause health disparities in these areas.

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