Defend the Forest Everywhere: MVP Construction Halted In National Forest Due To Pipeline Resistance

Report on ongoing resistance to the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) from Appalachians Against Pipelines.

On Saturday morning 10/7, pipeline fighter Mickey locked themself to a sleeping dragon blockade on the Virginia side of Peters Mountain, in the Jefferson National Forest. A banner at the site read, “Defend the Forest Everywhere!” Mickey prevented tree clearing on the mountain for the full day. Around 8 PM on Saturday, Mickey was extracted and arrested. They were charged with 3 misdemeanors and bail was set at $2,500.

Mickey stated, “The same thing is happening everywhere right now. Greedy corporations and politicians dirty the water and air for profit, then tell the people it’s for their own good, to create jobs so that the lowly worker might have the chance to make enough to eat. And once they’ve dirtied the last stream, and polluted the last breath of air, they’ll patent the solution and sell it to us. In the face of this, it’s easy to despair. To give up hope, to think there’s nothing we can do. But the corporations and politicians will not save us, even punk rock activists with their arms in holes can’t save us. Only together, all of us, can we succeed. In solidarity, Mickey”

Nearby, folks rallied in support of Mickey’s protest, holding signs with phrases including “Shut It Down” and “Water You Doing?” The site of this rally was the same site where a monopod (aerial blockade) prevented MVP access to Peters Mountain for 57 days in 2018. Since the monopod, MVP has lost their permit to cross National Forest land multiple times. Each time, it has been reinstated with no real plan to avoid protecting the land, ecosystems, and communities in the pipeline’s path.

The Mountain Valley Pipeline is a 42-inch diameter fracked gas pipeline slated to cross 300 miles of Appalachia. The project has a long record of environmental violations and court battles about failures to hold on to key permits, and is emblematic of the struggle to transition away from fossil fuels. In June 2023, congress passed a law to fast track the MVP, despite the pipeline’s long history of environmental violations and failure to hold on to key permits. People have been resisting the MVP since it was initially proposed and continue to fight this toxic project.