Category: Appalachian Trail

In 2014, Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP)/EQT confidently predicted they could build a 300+ mile pipeline through mountains and karst by late 2018 at a cost of less than $3.5 billion. Today they say they can finish by late 2019 at a cost of $4.6 billion.

This update focuses on the situation in Jefferson National Forest (JNF), where construction is still halted due to a federal court decision in July.

Experts in both government and the private sector have repeatedly filed reports showing that MVP’s plans for control of erosion and sedimentation would result in widespread damage and destruction, and these predictions were sadly correct, both inside and outside JNF.

UPDATES (with more details below)

• Recently released reports from the US Forest Service (FS) show dozens of serious failures in MVP’s erosion and sedimentation controls in JNF. These reports support original FS critiques that led to the 4^th Circuit Court of Appeals stay on construction. MVP used extremely questionable methods based in part on work done in Florida to design their erosion and control strategies. Details are below under #3 and #4.
• The FS recently approved an MVP plan for Winter 2018-19 that does not allow any construction or burying of pipe and instead requires MVP to stabilize existing construction and plant seed on denuded areas by October 15. MVP had proposed burying pipe in the ground to prevent erosion! Details are below under #5.

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Those who have been following the Mountain Valley Pipeline story know that Duncan Adams has provided extraordinary coverage for over 3 years in the Roanoke Times. He has asked hard questions, shining light on a story that many outlets ignored or glossed over. Recently, Duncan accepted a long-sought offer to edit a newspaper in Butte, Montana, and his last day at the Roanoke Times was November 11, 2107 (two experienced reporters – Laurence Hammock and Jeff Sturgeon – will now cover the story).

Like me, Duncan has the West in his bones, and the call is strong. We wish him all the best and hope Montanans know what a great gift they are receiving.

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy and the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club honored Duncan for his in-depth reporting at the ATC office in Roanoke on November 13. He responded by reading the hand-written note below, which he has allowed us to share:

The rain started after my brother dropped me at the Dragon’s Tooth trailhead. On that April morning in 1978, I was 23 years old and a backpacking novice.

I walked into the woods woefully unprepared. I had not been a Boy Scout. My parents weren’t campers. I had stuffed the flimsy, exterior frame backpack, bought on the cheap from a discount retailer, with way too much stuff, including – incredibly – an array of books.

I toted a thin sleeping bag and a tube tent, a plastic shelter open on both ends.

As it turned out, my trail maps were outdated. That first night, as the rain intensified, I searched in vain for the shelter in which I’d planned to sleep. The rain gleefully sluiced in through both ends of the tube tent.

It was a long night. The next day it snowed. A few days later, I hitchhiked into Blacksburg, where I bought a decent jacket and mailed home the books.

By the time I reached Damascus I felt like a seasoned outdoorsman. I felt stronger, leaner, less fearful.

Like many people who hit the trail, I sought healing and solace on that first outing. I found just enough of both to initiate a love of hiking.

I am grateful to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy for your stewardship of this remarkable resource. And I am also grateful, and deeply honored, by this award. Thank you.