Mountain Valley Pipeline segment ruptures during test

A picture of a ruptured section of the Mountain Valley Pipeline circulating on social media this week ignited a fury of opposition from those who have protested the project for years.

The damaged pipeline, which the photo showed being hauled down a roadway, was the end result of hydrotesting on a section of the mainline pipe on May 1 near Route 221 on Bent Mountain. The incident came as the pipeline’s developers asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for an in-service date of June 1, a decision protesters continue to oppose.

“We have warned regulatory officials that MVP is a reckless company tossing corroding pipes into landslide prone mountain slopes in a rush to meet its contract obligations. It is past time for our safety to come first,” said Russell Chisholm, co-director of the Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights Coalition, in a statement.

The Mountain Valley Pipeline is a 303-mile natural gas pipeline intended to deliver natural gas from the Utica Shales of West Virginia into the commonwealth’s Pittsylvania County. 

A separate Southgate extension proposal — that environmental groups are also opposing and the company calls necessary to meet energy needs in North Carolina — aims to continue the pipeline by way of a new plan announced in December that scuttles a previously planned compressor station.

The main pipeline’s construction was nearly shut down last year, after years of delays stemming from environmental groups’ legal challenges to the project’s permit approvals, which led them to be overturned by the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. But in June 2023, Congress passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act with a provision that greenlit approvals of the mainline while preventing any legal challenge against it until it is completed. The company resumed work on the pipeline last August and is pushing forward, despite last week’s unexpected pipe failure.

After case dismissals, work on Mountain Valley Pipeline resumes in Virginia

“We are committed to ensuring the safe and responsible operation of this project, and the hydro testing process is an important aspect of preparing this pipeline system to operate safely for decades to come, just as hundreds of thousands of miles of other natural gas transmission pipelines do every day across the U.S.,” said company spokeswoman Natalie Cox in an email.

But the extended delays the project faced before work restarted troubles some environmental groups like Appalachian Voices, who say segments of pipe have been decaying as a result of laying in water or in the sun.

“I find no safety or comfort in their claim of successful testing,” said Jessica Sims, Appalachian Voices’ Virginia field coordinator. 

The failure

The recent pipe failure resulted in no reported injuries and happened during what is called hydrotesting, a practice performed to determine if a pipeline can be put into service, explained Cox. 

The testing on May 1 in Roanoke County included pressurizing water beyond the pipeline’s capability to see if the integrity of the infrastructure could be maintained.

“As of April 30, 2024, Mountain Valley has successfully completed the hydrotesting of roughly 269 miles of the project’s 303-mile route,” Cox wrote in an email. “Importantly, the disruption of this one hydrotest does, in fact, demonstrate that the testing process is working as designed and intended.” 

MVP reported the incident to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality around 10 a.m.; by 12:30 p.m. that day, a landowner living nearby had reported observing “milky muddy water.”

“No rain, this [is] likely related to pressure testing,” the report stated.

On Monday, another report was sent to DEQ by the same resident, saying “thick sediment” was flowing into local waterways and noting that thunderstorms — which can wash sedimentation into creeks, streams and rivers — were forecast the same day. This report called MVP’s efforts to contain the sediment released from the hydrotesting a few days before “an unwarranted and unacceptable repeat failure.”

In response to that report, Cox explained environmental protections are in place and noted the area of the failure “is an active worksite.”

“Mountain Valley has functioning perimeter controls installed per the approved plans.” Cox said. “This site is no different than any other active construction area on the [right of way].”  

The company is evaluating what caused the pipe failure after the damaged piece was removed from the area, Cox added. Hydrotesting in the area, including the replacement piece, will resume after preparations are complete, Cox said, as MVP assumes “full accountability for the water release and any environmental disruption.”

DEQ spokeswoman Irina Calos said Monday some sediment was discharged into a stream and wetland in the Mill Creek watershed, but Mountain Valley had removed the loose dirt and disturbed areas had been stabilized.

“DEQ is working to determine the extent of impacts, which will inform next steps,” Calos said. “This unauthorized impact does not affect the status of existing DEQ approvals.”

As for the second report, Calos noted some covering of the site was removed following the failure and more than an inch of rain in an hour led to some dirt-filled water to overrun some controls.

“MVP will retrieve any measurable deposits of sediment released onto offsite areas provided landowners grant access to MVP,” Calos said.

Inspections for possible damage

Mountain Valley Pipeline, after entering into a consent order with DEQ for separate issues, entered into a consent order with the Pipeline and Hazardous Safety Material Administration, or PHMSA, in October to address any pipeline coating deficiencies or corrosion issues.

Given the recent event, Cox said MVP will “uphold its obligations and satisfy all requirements” of the agreement so the pipeline’s remaining segments can be put into service.

The project’s percentage to restoration — a measure used for how much of the disturbed land has been returned to a natural state after other components of construction have been completed — is 63%. Sims said that indicates “an idea of sedimentation problems that are still potentially going to happen,” even if the pipeline can go into service before final restoration is complete.

That restoration percent and the recent failure, Sims said, has put an increased emphasis on transparency regarding pipeline safety inspections, which are carried out by PHMSA.

“We’d love to see more resources going to an agency that is supposed to be a watchguard for community safety,” Sims said, and also advocated for public access to inspection reports. 

“A lack of information makes the process even more difficult and opaque for the public.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with the correct spelling of Bent Mountain.