Mountain Valley pipeline construction.
PHOTO/APPALACHIANS AGAINST PIPELINES
Editor’s note: Below are excerpts from a press release by Appalachians Against Pipelines.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, VA — On June 28, a pipeline protester locked herself to construction equipment on a Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) easement in Montgomery County, VA, bringing pipeline construction on Brush Mountain to a halt. The blockade by local resident Emily Satterwhite is the most recent action in an ongoing campaign to stop the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Banners at the site read “Water is Life – We Won’t Back Down” and “VA Dems: Pipelines or Democracy – You Choose.” Local residents and pipeline resisters gathered on Brush Mountain to support Emily and express their opposition to the MVP.
“Virginians have tried every way we know how to tell our elected representatives that these fracked gas pipelines are a mistake,” said Emily Satterwhite, a 46-year-old mother from Blacksburg, VA. “We may not have lobbyists outside your doors like Dominion [Energy, Inc.] does, but we can stop construction to tell you that southwest Virginia does not want the Mountain Valley Pipeline. MVP is bad for Virginia and bad for the planet. The State Water Control Board and DEQ can stop this pipeline. Governor Northam can stop this pipeline. Revoke water quality certification now and inspire a new generation of voters. Because if you don’t act to protect our water and our mountains, we will.”
The Mountain Valley Pipeline is a 42-inch diameter fracked gas pipeline that is under construction at multiple sites along its proposed route, which stretches over 300 miles from northern WV to southern VA. Impacted residents have been fighting to stop the pipeline for over four years. Emily and Appalachians Against Pipelines continue taking action to protect the land, water, and communities of this region from the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
Editor’s update: After stopping work on the pipeline for 14 hours, Emily was charged and released from jail, telling politicians and regulatory agencies, “If you don’t act to protect our water and our mountains, we will.”
For more information, contact appalachiansagainstpipelines@protonmail.com;
facebook.com/appalachiansagainstpipelines; and donate at bit.ly/supportmvpresistance.
