Why Monroe Landowners Are Saying NO

WHY WE SAY “NO PIPELINE”

This is a huge excavation project, crossing numerous creeks and streams, farms, wells and springs. It is a threat to Monroe County’s public and private drinking water.
The Red Sulphur PSD opposes the pipeline because of the dangers it will create in maintaining safe public water. Red Sulphur provides water to 4,000 residents, nearly one-third of Monroe County. In response to this proposed pipeline they have submitted a proposal for a water protection ordinance to the Monroe County Commissioners.
Monroe County is located on one of the world’s most concentrated sinkhole plains. Chemical, fuel and oil spills during construction will go unfiltered into caves, underground streams and drinking water due to our karst limestone geology. This water is a critical resource not only for families, but for our livestock and wildlife.

Huge pipelines like this can and do leak and explode. (A 20-inch gas line explosion and resulting fire destroyed houses and melted part of nearby Interstate 77 in Sissonville WV in December 2012.) When you are moving 2 billion cubic feet of gas a day, with gas pressure at 1500 psi, any leak is potentially deadly.

Heavy pipeline-related truck traffic has led to fatal accidents in other WV counties.
Monroe County does not, and will not, have the infrastructure needed (roads, police, emergency responders, medical facilities). We won’t be able to respond to the kind of catastrophic incidents that can happen during the construction and operation of such a large pipeline.

This project will likely reduce both the market price and the ability to sell all properties affected by the pipeline, including neighboring properties.
Landowners will continue to pay all real estate tax on the property, even though the gas company will control 75 feet of permanent easement through your property.
New pipes can be added along the same easement in the future. Gas companies can get official permission (without needing yours) once they have an easement.

Monroe County landowners along the Columbia line (a much smaller 8-inch pipeline) say there were broken promises by the company and ongoing problems due to poor oversight of the subcontractors and their crews.
Landowners will be restricted in how they can use the right-of-way after it is “restored.”
The pipeline will require periodic surveys and inspections, both by air and on-site, as well as herbicidal spraying.
Companies can construct above-ground facilities on the right-of-way, such as valves, pig launchers and pig receivers.

Landowners won’t likely be able to receive gas service from the pipeline because the pressure is too high.
The project will create few jobs for local residents, and those mostly temporary.
Monroe County would get only $8,000-$9,000 in annual tax revenue from MVP on the completed pipeline, and that amount will decrease over 30 years.
What we will gain: noise, pollution, trucks and heavy equipment traffic, erosion and fragmentation of farms and forestland, industrialization, and a long-term threat of explosion. All the ills of an extraction industry, including potential fracking and additional pipelines crisscrossing the county.
What we will lose: Property value, our unspoiled views, safe water, clean air and our agricultural heritage. All the qualities of life that people here cherish.

Protect the water and safety of Monroe County …

Protect the value and beauty of your land …

Please Join Us in Saying “NO PIPELINE!”

Click here for PDF of Why We Say “No Pipeline”