Fear and Anger Follow the Path of Joe Manchin’s Mountain Valley Pipeline

This summer, in a highly unusual move, Congress stepped in to fast-track the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. After years of stop-and-go construction, there’s now a mad dash to finish the natural gas line stretching just over 300 miles from the northern border of West Virginia to southern Virginia.

That’s largely due to one man: West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat, who convinced other legislators and President Joe Biden to greenlight the controversial pipeline as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling.

Across a largely rural, mountainous area, the pipeline’s 50-foot easement traverses hundreds of bodies of water, crosses fields, plunges into valleys, climbs steep slopes and passes near homes, businesses and at least one school. Along many of the final stretches awaiting completion, churned-up soil and construction equipment signal busy activity.

Outside Greenville, West Virginia, workers are installing pipe under water crossings on a farm belonging to Maury Johnson. In Boones Mill, Virginia, artists Steve and Anne Bernard recently watched construction less than 200 feet from their house and studio. Meanwhile, people using heavy machinery are still burying pipe on Theresa “Red” Terry’s property along the slopes of Bent Mountain, Virginia, some of the steepest terrain that the pipe is set to cross.

Operator Equitrans Midstream Corp. says the project is now approximately 94% finished and will be fully built by year’s end, to carry gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations to customers in the mid-Atlantic and southern US.

Equitrans negotiated with landowners for easements to run the line under their properties, and it had the authority to use eminent domain when no agreement could be reached. For many of the people living and working along the route, construction started years ago — and then paused, for one reason or another. In some cases, the landowners themselves played a role in the stoppages, with some legally challenging the company’s use of eminent domain and others perching in trees in the path of construction. Multiple environmental groups challenged the project’s federal agency authorizations, including a right of way to cross a 3.5-mile corridor of the Jefferson National Forest. The pipeline is five years behind its original schedule and its budget has swelled from $3.5 billion to $6.6 billion, in part due to the company racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for repeatedly violating state permits.

Practically all new fossil fuel projects, including the Mountain Valley Pipeline, have become international flashpoints in the fight against climate change. Every new coal, natural gas and oil project collides with the scientific reality that the world needs to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to stave off worsening heat waves, floods and wildfires. But for people on the ground, these projects aren’t symbols of global battles — they have tangible impacts on the landscape, the local economy and even residents’ daily routines.

Manchin has long advocated for the pipeline, arguing it is needed to increase domestic energy production, lower energy costs and benefit the constituents of his home state. He’s joked the project’s initials stand for Most Valuable Pipeline.

The bargain struck in Washington means the pipeline’s completion is effectively a done deal. But it’s not clear when exactly the project will go online, given that hurdles remain in its path.

Opponents continued to bring new legal challenges to the project this summer, briefly holding up construction. In response, Equitrans in September filed a lawsuit against two environmental organizations and 41 people who previously protested the pipeline, alleging they are disrupting its progress and asking for $4 million in damages. The company agreed to new safety measures after federal regulators ordered a review of the project, arguing segments left buried underground or exposed to the elements during years of delay could pose a safety risk.

“The safe, responsible construction and operation of MVP remains our top priority,” says Natalie Cox, an Equitrans spokeswoman.

There’s also still intense local opposition to the pipeline. Bloomberg Green set out to document people impacted by the project with a range of opinions about it, but mostly encountered people who opposed it. People living along the route raised concerns about the project’s environmental impacts, especially on local water resources; the potential of the pipe to blow up when gas is running through it; and that overcoming construction hurdles along the most physically challenging parts of the route may permanently alter and degrade the natural landscape.

Bent Mountain, Virginia, is covered in creeks and wetlands, says resident “Red” Terry. Everywhere the pipeline company has dug, “they hit water,” she says. “No way this can be built safely.”

“Pipelines are recognized as by far the safest means for transporting the energy necessary to power modern life,” says Cox. The company notes that more than 300,000 miles of natural gas pipelines have been built and are operating across the United States, “including in steep, mountainous and karst terrain, as well as inside and outside of national forests.”

Here’s what the project looks like on the ground as of July and August 2023, as well as some of the people affected by it.

Story produced in partnership with Outrider Foundation.

Edited by Amanda Kolson Hurley. Photo editing by Jane Yeomans and Eugene Reznik.

Updates in 10th paragraph with details on new safety measures Equitrans agreed to.

Previously corrected spelling of Steve and Anne Way Bernard's last name.