ROANOKE, Va. – Environmental advocates say the pipeline explosion just outside Houston is a reminder of the potential dangers of a pipeline in our own backyard.
Officials say a vehicle traveled through a fence and struck a valve for a natural gas fluids pipeline in Deer Park, Texas.
The fire scorched the ground and burned nearby homes. A wide area was evacuated.
The pipeline was carrying similar materials as the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline which passes through several counties in southwest Virginia.
The pipeline began operating in June after years of controversy. Its backers say it will help meet growing energy demand in the region.
Roberta Bondurant, who is with the group Preserve Bent Mountain, told 10 News safety remains a concern.
“Given the explosion in Houston, given the appearance of other explosions, we have some idea of what to expect in an explosion on the Mountain Valley Pipeline,” Bondurant said.
The pipeline failed during water testing earlier this year, adding to concerns.
“… a pipe that was next to both a home, a family home and a road and the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway, across the street from a community,” Bondurant said.
The company identified a manufacturer’s defect in an elbow fitting as the cause of the failure.
It submitted a final report to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, noting that “there was no evidence of external or internal corrosion.”
“With the replacement of the affected fitting and a sister fitting, which was proactively removed from the same test section, all fittings and all pipe on the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline successfully passed hydrotesting to at least 125 percent of the pipeline’s maximum allowable operating pressure,” the company wrote in a blog post.
In response to ongoing concerns about erosion and other impacts, the company said the MVP project team conducts a standard review each quarter with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
“It’s important to note that Mountain Valley agreed to unprecedented oversight and transparency of project work,” wrote a spokesperson from the pipeline in response to questions from 10 News. “Since 2018, this has included more than 47,800 state, federal and third-party environmental inspections and more than 72,000 inspections by MVP’s internal environmental team. If an issue is identified, the project team moves quickly to address it.”
The pipeline operations are monitored 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the company said. It pointed out more 300,000 miles of pipelines operate safely and efficiently in the U.S. today.