Virginia: Roanoke County Residents Team Up to Chase Off Pipeline Surveyors

A group of residents living on Bent Mountain in Roanoke County, VA was successful in preventing Mountain Valley Pipeline surveyors from accessing land they are trying to survey in preparation for the controversial project. According to local news reports a group of surveyors were turned away from a property on the Morning of May 8 and when they attempted to gain access to another property later in the day, they were met by a group of neighbors who promptly turned them away again.

The Mountain Valley Pipeline, a project of EQT Midstream Partners, seeks to bring fracked gas from West Virginia into Virginia where it would tie into an existing network of pipelines. It is believed the gas is ultimately destined for export at facilities such as Cove Point in Maryland.

A few days after the initial confrontation  surveyors were again removed from a property in the area after the residents called the police on them. State troopers arrived at the scene and surprisingly asked the surveyors to leave. While it is nice to see the police take the side of the underdog for once, depending on law enforcement to intervene on the side of environmental justice is a risky proposition judging by their violent responses to effective pipeline resistance from Standing Rock to Florida.

The gas industry, especially in the Marcellus Shale region is currently unable to expand production due to the fact that existing pipelines are at capacity. They need a new generation of pipelines in order to expand their toxic industry. Defeating these new pipelines is a strategic opportunity to stop the expanse of fracking as well as keeping a massive amount of highly potent methane in the ground where it cannot further escalate the climate crisis.