Protester Climbs Inside Mountain Valley Pipeline, Blocks Work for 2 Days

Action report from Appalachians Against Pipelines on recent direct action against the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP).

Early Thursday morning, a pipeline fighter using the name Ricky Bobby climbed inside the Mountain Valley Pipeline (which is 42 inches in diameter) atop Peters Mountain to prevent ongoing construction in the area. MVP security and law enforcement responded to the scene but did not enter the pipe; Ricky left after 2 days and was arrested and charged with 4 misdemeanors. A banner placed at the entrance of the pipe read, “FUCK YOU, MVP.” People rallied in support of Ricky’s action on the first day at the Jefferson National Forest gate on Pocahontas Rd.

Early on in the blockade, Ricky said, “This project is worth fighting until the end. Winning looks so much bigger than just stopping this pipeline – it’s a win through the community folks continue to build. It is a win because of the insane amount of skills that people have gathered and shared. It’s a win because, whether or not this pipeline ever has gas running through it, the legacy of resistance in Appalachia still lives. Extractive industry knows that they can’t fuck with the communities here without going through hell – and we better not let them forget that.”

Ricky described their experience in the pipe, explaining, “The noise inside the pipe is constant – I can hear the echoes of my breath, conversations half a mile up the mountain where this pipe reemerges, the earth groaning and creaking, and machines far away on other slopes. Workers and cops have beat on the outside of the pipe around me, one time for what felt like multiple minutes. In that instance my body went into immediate panic – I have never heard or felt something so loud in my life.”

They stayed suspended in the 42-inch diameter pipeline for over 36 hours, preventing MVP from working on that section for both Thursday and Friday. Law enforcement sent a motorized camera into the pipe but did not ever enter themselves. Before leaving the pipe, Ricky stated, “Tomorrow’s a rainy day, meaning they probably won’t work, and my body is craving hard, flat ground. To my surprise, the cops were too scared to ever come in after me, and just sat below and watched.” Upon emerging late Friday afternoon, they were arrested and charged with 4 misdemeanors. Their bail was set at $3,500 and they have since been bailed out.

Ricky’s action concludes a week of multiple acts of resistance to the Mountain Valley Pipeline. On Monday, pipeline fighters River and Andy locked themselves to an immobilized vehicle on Honeysuckle Rd in Roanoke County, blocking MVP’s access to a work site, equipment yard, and access roads. The same day, 7 people were arrested after walking on to an MVP site further up the mountain. Those 7 were charged with 2 misdemeanors each and initially denied bail. They have since all had bail set and been bailed out of jail. Meanwhile, pipeline fighter and grandfather Jerome is currently serving 2 months in jail for a protest in late 2023 during which he locked himself to a drill to prevent MVP from drilling under the Elk River.

The Mountain Valley Pipeline is over budget by more than $4 billion and nearly 6 years behind schedule. The pipeline, if completed, would transport fracked gas across at least 303 miles of Appalachia. The project has a long record of environmental violations and since the first tree sits in 2018, has lost their permit to cross National Forest land multiple times. Each time, it has been reinstated with no real plan to protect the land, ecosystems, and communities in the pipeline’s path. In June 2023, the pipeline was fast-tracked by Congress, despite local residents voicing their opposition and concerns. Over the last few months, Mountain Valley Pipeline has escalated its legal intimidation of pipeline fighters, filing multiple Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP suits) and collaborating with local law enforcement to charge protesters with erroneous felonies in order to discourage resistance.

The legal intimidation has failed to stop protestors. Ricky Bobby states, “From Appalachia to Atlanta, and from these hollers to the Gaza strip, we will keep fighting, and no matter how all this ends or what they tell you to believe, together we will win.”