ROANOKE, Va. – The controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline project that will span more than 300 miles has continued to hit roadblocks throughout the years.
From protesters to fines to pipe ruptures, the Mountain Valley Pipeline has truly seen it all. But despite the recent setbacks, the pipeline is still moving full steam ahead.
On May 1, the Mountain Valley Pipeline failed during hydro-static testing, which runs water through the pipe to ensure that there are no leaks or flaws.
Authorities told 10 News that it happened in the Bent Mountain section of Roanoke County.
But setbacks for the pipeline don’t stop there. On Friday, May 10, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality cited the Mountain Valley Pipeline for environmental violations, especially focusing those violations on erosion and sediment control.
Mountain Valley Pipeline gave a statement to 10 News, in part, saying:
On Wednesday, May 1, 2024, at approximately 10:00 a.m. (ET), Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC reported a water release while conducting standard hydrotesting on its MVP mainline pipe located near Rt. 221, Bent Mountain, Roanoke County, Virginia. There were no injuries reported, and all appropriate state and federal agencies were notified, including FERC, PHMSA, and the VADEQ. By Thursday morning, the released water had dissipated and temporarily affected tributaries had returned to pre-hydrotesting conditions.
Federal regulations include requirements for hydrotesting pipelines in advance of operations, and, as of April 30, 2024, Mountain Valley has successfully completed the hydrotesting of roughly 269 miles of the project’s 303-mile route. Hydrostatic testing exposes all pipeline components to a pressure that exceeds the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) to ensure all components will operate safely prior to the introduction of gas into the pipeline. Importantly, the disruption of this one hydrotest does, in fact, demonstrate that the testing process is working as designed and intended.
An evaluation is underway to determine the cause of the hydrotest disruption. The damaged section of pipe has since been replaced, and Mountain Valley has resumed hydrotesting, including for this segment of the route where the disruption occurred, without incident.
The VADEQ and other federal agencies continue to conduct daily project inspections, and Mountain Valley continues to coordinate with these agencies to address any compliance issues or concerns that are identified. Additionally, Mountain Valley will uphold its obligations and satisfy all requirements of the Consent Agreement that are necessary to commission the remaining segments and put them in-service.
We continue to expect to complete construction and final commissioning activities on or about May 31, 2024.
Mountain Valley Pipeline
The violations were from a first-quarter report between December 2023 to March 2024.
With all the obstacles the pipeline has gone through, they tell me, “We continue to expect to complete construction and final commissioning activities on or about May 31, 2024.”
I reached out to DEQ about the amount of money the Mountain Valley Pipeline has been fined throughout the years, and in total, they tell me the fines have exceeded $2 million.
I reached out to the Mountain Valley Pipeline about these violations, and they said, “Each quarter, the MVP project team conducts a standard review with the VADEQ regarding the project’s ongoing field inspections. The recent letter from VADEQ includes sti10:00 amfirst-quarterfirst-quarterfirst-quarterpulated penalties for the first quarter of 2024, which were primarily related to exceeding agreed-upon installation and/or repair timelines. These noted items were quickly resolved, and full payment will be made without dispute.”