Allowing the rusty MVP to go into service puts West Virginian lives and the climate at risk

The Mountain Valley Pipeline right of way and some piping is visible beside Rt. 460 Sunday, July 16, 2023, in Elliston, Virginia. (Scott P. Yates | Virginia Mercury)

West Virginians are at greater risk of pipeline explosions, environmental pollution, and climate catastrophe than we were a week ago. Last week the Federal Regulatory Commission approved the Mountain Valley Pipeline to go into operation after a decade of community resistance, six years of delayed and costly construction, and numerous violations along the construction route. 

The approval comes only one day after the developer, Equitrans Midstream, stated that the project was “mechanically complete.” By the end of the week, the developer turned on the pipeline to begin transporting the fracked gas. The $7.85 billion, 303-mile and 42-inch diameter pipeline resulted in costing more than double the initial proposal of $3.5 billion. A pipeline of this length and diameter has never been tried in our mountainous region. Yet, the present and future cost of this pipeline goes far beyond finances.

The federal green light comes just a year after so-called “climate” President Joe Biden signed legislation to raise the debt ceiling. Stemming from a deal with Democratic Senate leaders, the bipartisan debt ceiling agreement included a congressional mandate to expedite the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline despite environmental compliance issues and associated legal setbacks. Beyond being a quid pro quo to advance Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito’s fossil fuel interests, this legislation demonstrated the fragility of our country’s government in both executive and legislative overreach of its regulatory and judicial decisions. 

The Mountain Valley Pipeline poses unique risks to local communities and ecosystems going into service this summer due to the steel pipes used and then neglected in development. Steel pipes are particularly prone to corrosion when exposed to oxygen, sunlight, and water even coated with epoxy. Equitrans Midstream left sections of pipes out to the elements for years increasing concerns of explosion potential. 

This safety risk is not theoretical — during hydrostatic testing on May 1 in Virginia, a section of the pipeline installed in 2018 ruptured and released water and sediment into local streams and properties. Residents near the burst shared that there is a lack of communication from federal and state agencies about the pipe failure. If the pipeline fails this standard pressure test mere weeks before requesting to go into service, can it truly be safe to transport highly flammable fracked gas through the places where West Virginians live, play and work?

Even more, the pumping of fracked gas through corroded pipelines poses an additional risk of groundwater infiltration of methane and radioactive materials produced in fracking, along with significant greenhouse gas emissions. This environmental pollution threatens the air and water of local residents, landowners, farmers, and business owners. 

At a national and global scale, we know that climate change is not just a distant threat but happening now. It is well established science that extracting and burning fossil fuels are the source of human caused climate change. The only way to avoid even worse impacts is to stop approving and advancing fossil fuel projects. Even the International Energy Agency, an intergovernmental organization created in response to the 1973-1974 oil crisis and with deep roots in the oil and gas industry, made clear in 2021 that new oil and gas projects must stop immediately. 

It should not be controversial to say that people residing along the Mountain Valley Pipeline deserve to live without fear of a pipeline explosion or the leakage of methane and radioactive waste, and we all deserve a livable future in the face of climate change. It is not too late for the federal government to remedy their rash decision to circumvent judicial review, dismiss the separation of powers, and expedite permits for a pipeline proven to cause harm. 

The fight against the Mountain Valley Pipeline and fossil fuels, in general, is far from over. While the Biden Administration has taken more climate action than any president in American history, the bar of success is as low as the depths of the Marcellus and Utica Shale, where gas from the Mountain Valley Pipeline is said to be sourced. 

By declaring climate change the emergency it is and following through on his commitment to address climate change as the “number one issue facing humanity,” President Biden has a responsibility to answer for his detrimental decisions shaped by fossil fuel interests. If he doesn’t, young voters, like myself, will ensure that his administration pays that price through this November’s election.

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