Protesters in Jefferson National Forest erected a new protest site today aimed at blocking construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Fern MacDougal is the latest in a string of protesters to take to the trees in protest of the 303-mile pipeline.
In a press release, she said the pipeline threatens to damage the environment and the health and well-being of poor and oppressed communities
“This pipeline will catalyze the growth and expansion of gas extraction across Appalachia, an industry which has already caused permanent harm to many communities,” she said. “We are dedicated to resisting this reckless endangerment of the land and people as long as MVP continues to operate.”
The new blockade is a 30-foot-tall platform suspended in the forest. Protesters say it’s hindering construction of an access road and boring site associated with the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Other protestors are currently camped out in trees along the pipeline’s path. That includes a tree-sit near the ridge on Peters Mountain and a monopod blockade on Pocahontas Road. The project also faces legal challenges by landowners.
Construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline is currently halted because of recent heavy rains. The pipeline developer was cited for erosion control problems in West Virginia last month.
A request for comment from the pipeline developers was not immediately returned Monday.
A judge has lifted the restraining order against natural gas pipeline protesters sitting in trees in West Virginia.
News outlets report Judge Robert Irons denied the injunction, reversing course less than two weeks after granting Mountain Valley Pipeline a 10-day restraining order against the protesters.
Mountain Valley Pipeline had sought the order, saying the protest could prevent cutting trees along the pipeline’s path in time to meet a March 31 federal wildlife protection deadline. A licensed surveyor testified the protesters were outside of the no-cut zone and inside the company’s right of way, but the protesters’ attorney, William DePaulo, pointed out mapping inconsistencies.
In his ruling, Irons highlighted concerns over the map data’s accuracy and questioned the urgency to reach a decision over two trees along the 300-mile (480-kilometer) pipeline.
Regulators have approved a construction stormwater discharge permit for Mountaineer Gas Co.’s proposed natural gas distribution line expansion in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle.
The Department of Environmental Protection said in a news release Wednesday the permit gives the DEP wide-ranging inspection and enforcement authority for the project.
The 23-mile project through Berkeley and Morgan counties includes crossing several creeks.
Mountaineer Gas has said it also plans to build a distribution line to supply natural gas for the expansion from a Columbia Gas transmission line in Pennsylvania.
Charleston-based Mountaineer Gas has about 220,000 customers and nearly 6,000 miles of pipelines.
A Preston County natural gas pipeline project that’s expected to create 25 jobs is receiving a $250,000 state grant.
On Thursday, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin visited the Allegheny Wood Products site in Hazelton to announce the grant.
The money will help extend a natural gas pipeline to the company. It’s expected to help increase lumber production there by 50 percent, from 20 million board feet annually to 30 million board feet.
The additional 25 jobs would increase the plant’s employment by more than 50 percent by the fall.
The gas line should be finished by September.
The extension will let the company replace diesel-powered kilns with natural gas-fueled ones.
The West Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council grant will go to the Preston County Economic Development Authority.
The Monroe County Landmarks Commission recently submitted a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, or FERC. The group opposes the latest proposed route for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which cuts very close to a historic mineral springs hotel.
“Well the reason we really got involved, and at first we weren’t going to get involved, was when they changed the proposed route to the alternate route. It came right through Salt Sulphur Springs Historical district,” said Mary Pearl Compton, a former state legislator and a current member of the Monroe County Landmarks Commission.
Credit MVP
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Proposed route for the Mountain Valley Pipeline through Monroe County, with Alternative
During the 1800s, the mineral spring waters of Salt Sulphur Springs were famous for their supposed healing powers, and the Salt Sulphur Springs hotel was built in 1820.
The mineral springs are still running at Salt Sulphur Springs, though the spring houses are not open to the public. The resort closed in the 1920s, and was later restored. The hotel is owned by Betty Farmer, who hosts events inside the ballroom and many weddings outside on the lawn.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline is a proposed 300-mile line that would transport natural gas from Wetzel county to Virginia.
MVP recently released a new alternative route, which puts the pipeline through a hill that sits just behind the historic Salt Sulphur Springs hotel. The gas pipeline would be buried, but the historic commission says they don’t want the pipeline to run within view of this historic district. They say the 75 foot right of way that would be cut along the route would affect the view from the historic district. They also say they’re concerned that the construction of a 9 food deep trench would obstruct the flow of the mineral springs underground.
Credit Historic American Buildings Survey
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Front and side of the Salt Sulphur Springs Chapel, located along U.S. Route 219 in Salt Sulphur Springs in Monroe County, West Virginia, United States. Built in 1840, it is a part of the Salt Sulphur Springs Historic District, a historic district that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
At first the historic commission didn’t want to get involved in the pipeline debate. But the alternative route would run too close to areas that Compton says Monroe County residents value culturally. Aside from the Salt Sulphur Springs resort, this would also include the Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory on Peter’s Mountain, the Potts Valley Rail Trail, and the historic community of Waitville.
“We believe that this is not the right route and that another route should be selected. Because the cultural attachment to Monroe County and to a lot of West Virginians and people all over the country. Not only the cultural impact but particularly the historical impact,” said Compton.
Credit Dan Schultz, Traveling 219
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Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory on Peter’s Mountain
Another concern for many of the county’s residents is that the area’s porous karst topography makes this a dangerous location for a pipeline. That’s because under the ground here are many many sinkholes, streams, and caves. One example of the karst in Monroe County is Scott Hollow Cave, which is the third-longest cave in West Virginia with a length of 24.7 miles.
Mountain Valley Pipeline Company spokeswoman Natalie Cox says that her company is in the early phases of surveying, and that EQT company that would be constructing the pipeline does have experience building pipelines through karst.
“It can be constructed safely and it could be maintained safely, in this type of topography. And what Mountain Valley has done is to hire a third party karst topography expert, if you will, to do analysis along not only the proposed route but the alternative routes as well.”
That engineering consulting company is Draper Aden Associates, located in Blacksburg, VA.
Meanwhile, the Mountain Valley Pipeline Company has other issues before it can continue to survey the proposed and alternative pipeline routes. Last month, MVP filed suit against 103 West Virginians, demanding access to their land for surveying. The result of this case would likely create a precedent for future eminent domain cases like this one in West Virginia.
According to the Mountain Valley Pipeline website, the company is still planning on sending its formal pipeline proposal to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by October of this year. MVP says they plan to begin construction in late 2016. According to an economics benefit report that MVP commissioned by FTI Consulting, the pipeline is projected to generate about 8,000 jobs in West Virginia between 2015-2018.
On West Virginia Morning, while lawmakers are working on the state’s spending plan, some Putnam County school children are getting a lesson in how to create and stick to a budget. And two stories about how citizens can offer comments on air quality permits for natural gas drilling and a possible natural gas pipeline through the Jefferson National Forest. These stories coming up on West Virginia Morning from West Virginia Public Broadcasting – telling West Virginia’s story.
