On Feb. 26, pipeline resistors climbed trees in the way of the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline on Peter’s Mountain in West Virginia, making it impossible to cut the forest without threatening severe harm to those resisting.
The resistors are stationed on the site where MVP LLC intends to drill directly through the mountain and beneath the Appalachian Trail. The proposed 42-inch Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) would carry fracked gas from shale fields in West Virginia to intersect with the existing Transco Pipeline, a major highway for transporting gas to markets overseas. The proposed pipeline would destroy water, mountains, forests, and family farms throughout Virginia and West Virginia.
“We know this pipeline is not about energy reliability or jobs. The pipeline company will push people off the land they call home, poison the water, and do it all in the name of profit. MVP LLC will label anyone who stands in the way as criminal. But we see exactly who they are,” said pipeline resistor Cory Pilsner.
The Karst limestone terrain of Peters Mountain generates and filters fresh drinking water, and is especially susceptible to landslides and sinkholes. Pipeline construction in this area would destroy a unique biome filled with caves, underground streams, and springs inhabited by life found nowhere else in the world. Precision Pipeline, one of the companies contracted to build the MVP, has been cited repeatedly for violations of erosion and sediment control as well as water contamination during the construction of the Mariner East 2, Rover, and Stonewall Pipelines.
“Fossil fuel extraction and the irreparable destruction it wreaks is not new to Appalachia – it is scarred into the land. A fierce determination to resist these life-threatening projects is also not new to Appalachia. We stand in solidarity with all those who have fought for their communities and against these greedy corporations. We recognize that the struggle against extraction is one against colonization that began in 1492,” stated organizer Ashley Brown. “We stand here to protect both the mountain and all those who rely on the mountain’s water system. We stand against the destructive motive of this project and all others like it.”
For more information on the Peters Mountain Stand visit https://www.facebook.com/appalachiansagainstpipelines/