Statement by Appalachian Voices on Mountain Valley Pipeline’s request to place MVP in service

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 10, 2024

CONTACT:
Molly Moore, Director of Program Communications: (828) 278-4076, molly@appvoices.org
Jessica Sims, Virginia Field Coordinator: (804) 356-1228, jessica@appvoices.org

Today, Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC, sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission asking commissioners to grant pipeline operators permission by tomorrow to start running high-pressure methane gas through the Mountain Valley Pipeline on the basis that the pipeline is “mechanically complete.”

In the letter, MVP developers claim they have met a key restoration standard needed to place MVP facilities into service. But MVP developers are under a consent agreement with the Pipeline Hazardous Materials and Safety Administration, and that agency has not yet provided the public with key safety information — including whether the pipeline is in compliance with all aspects of the consent agreement and the results of a recent study of a pipe that ruptured during high-pressure testing.

Statement by Virginia Field Coordinator Jessica Sims:

“Community members are still waiting for answers to vital questions: What are the results of the metallurgical study of the ruptured pipe? Has Mountain Valley Pipeline satisfied the remaining requirements of its consent agreement with federal pipeline safety regulators? What conclusions have regulators drawn after reporting that dozens of anomalies were found during testing? The community is in the dark about important safety and environmental considerations from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and FERC, while Mountain Valley Pipeline pressures FERC to prioritize the company’s sales schedule.”