Today, a coalition of water and environmental justice advocates released a study conducted by the Applied Economics Clinic (AEC), showing Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC (MVP) “has not provided convincing evidence” of a need for the MVP extension. Furthermore, the report outlines how MVP relied on “questionable assumptions” to support their claims, and that even if additional gas were needed, non-pipeline alternatives may be cheaper.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline is proposed to run fracked gas 303 miles from West Virginia into southern Virginia. Although the project is severely behind schedule and over budget, MVP, LLC is seeking to extend it an additional 73 miles into North Carolina in order to sell gas to PSNC Energy, which has been acquired by Dominion Energy. The pipeline’s extension received its draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) last Friday, and public comments on it will be accepted through September 16. Additionally, there will be three in-person public comment sessions; Aug. 19 in Wentworth, N.C.; Aug. 20 in Chatham, Va.; and Aug. 22 in Haw River, N.C.
Using publicly available information, AEC picks apart MVP’s flimsy justification for their controversial project. Specifically, the report says:
- PSNC’s forecasts of gas demand are higher than other publicly available forecasts for the region.
- Lower gas demand forecasts eliminate or delay the need for additional supply capacity.
- Cost-effective supply- and demand-side alternatives exist to new pipeline infrastructure.
In response, local farmer and agribusiness owner Nancy Rosborough said:
"The Mountain Valley Pipeline extension is a dirty, dangerous, and unnecessary project. I don't want it anywhere near my farm. My grandparents worked hard to create a viable financial enterprise nearly 100 years ago. I continue to work hard to keep the family business profitable and I don't want it ruined by a fracked gas pipeline. The livelihood of my farm, and so many of our other community businesses, depends on clean water and good land management. We shouldn't be forced by unscrupulous entities to risk everything we've built so the polluting corporations can line their pockets."