Federal regulators have issued a proposed safety order to the developers of the controversial and highly politicized Valley pipeline, citing concerns about possible pipeline corrosion and ground movement as the pipeline traverses steep mountainous terrain in West Virginia and Virginia.
In a proposed order issued Aug. 11, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) noted that conditions may exist at the Valley pipeline that “pose a risk to pipeline integrity, public safety, property, or the environment.” and that “maybe putting it into service without fixing it presents an immediate risk.”
The safety notice states that the regulator’s concerns “require due diligence to identify and address integrity issues, mitigate risk, and protect public safety, property, and the environment.”
The notification is a proposal, not a final order, and its impact on the completion of pipeline projects is unclear. The main owner of the pipeline, Equitrans Midstream Corporation, has 30 days to submit an initial response to the PHMSA notification and may challenge the agency’s findings.
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“I think this proposed safety order, if it is finally passed, will require some really serious concrete steps to make pipelines safer,” said Bill Karam, executive director of the Pipeline Safety Trust, an independent watchdog group. The two main areas of concern are corrosion and land movement, and PHMSA does have some good, prescriptive, robust mitigation measures and orders to address both.”
Karam noted that PHMSA has not issued a corrective action order, which is a more stringent measure requiring immediate corrective action from Equitrans.
Equitrans spokeswoman Natalie Cox said the company welcomes PHMSA’s oversight but disputes the agency’s assessment.
“We are committed to meeting or exceeding all applicable regulations to keep our employees, contractors, assets and communities safe,” Cox said in an email. As we continue to review our architectural practice for months, we applaud their expertise and oversight.”
“While the proposed preliminary findings do not accurately reflect our extraordinary efforts to ensure the safety and integrity of the pipeline, which is facing unprecedented delays due to circumstances beyond our control, Mountain Valley remains committed to working with PHMSA, and other regulators going forward. will also act as the project enters the final stage of construction,” she added.
Cox said Equitrans has requested “informal consultations” with the PHMSA about the safety notice and is hoping for a speedy resolution. “The construction of the facility is still scheduled to be completed by the end of this year,” she added.
If the safety notice is finalized in its current form, the pipeline project can still proceed immediately.
PHMSA issued the proposed safety order after construction of the pipeline was delayed for several years by multiple lawsuits and contested state and federal licenses, and after Congress took unprecedented action to exempt its license from judicial review.
The waiver is part of the terms of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, an agreement between Democrats and Republicans to temporarily suspend the debt ceiling, which approved all federal pipeline permits and declared “no jurisdiction” to revise the federal debt ceiling. or approval of the state license for the project.
Completing the pipeline was a top priority for Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia, whose vote Democrats need to pass the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, widely seen as a historic climate action. energy.
Manchin voted for this legislation as part of an agreement with the Biden administration to speed up pipeline construction across the state. Manchin also enjoys strong support from plumbing industry donors.
When the debt ceiling bill was signed in June, government negotiators said President Joe Biden was honoring a deal he made a year ago to win Manchin’s vote on his climate legislation, an unprecedented exemption from judicial review for pipelines.
The PHMSA Pipeline Safety Authority oversees nearly 3,000 companies operating 3 million miles of pipelines and other natural gas and hazardous liquid processing facilities. Since 2010, the agency has issued a total of 41 safety alerts.
A proposed safety notice posted on Aug. 11 states that construction on the project has begun since 2018 and due to delays in construction, some steel pipes were exposed to the elements for extended periods of time, exposed and stacked on the ground before being buried. . in the ground. Polymer coatings that protect pipes from corrosion are easily destroyed under the influence of solar ultraviolet radiation.
The National Association of Pipe Coating Contractors, an industry group, said it “does not recommend storing coated pipe above ground for more than six months without additional UV protection.”
Federal regulators also noted that other sections of the pipeline had been underground for years without cathodic protection. Cathodic protection prevents corrosion of the pipeline by applying a low voltage electric current to it, thereby changing the chemistry of the interaction of the pipeline with the surrounding soil.
Richard Kupruvich, a pipeline safety expert and independent consultant, said inspectors can detect degradation of pipeline coatings from the surface without digging underground pipelines. If the pipeline coverage deteriorates significantly, he said, the company could expand its cathodic protection system rather than replace the pipeline.
Regarding another safety issue not related to pipeline corrosion, the notice also notes that the pipeline “passes through mountainous terrain, making the pipeline environment vulnerable to ground movement.”
In February 2020, a landslide tore a carbon dioxide pipeline in Satatya, Mississippi.
High pressure natural gas lines could explode if a similar rupture occurs in the Valley pipeline. According to a 2015 pipeline developer report, if the pipeline were to explode, its radius of impact, or “burn zone” where death or serious injury could occur, would be 1,115 feet.
Kuprevich, who has advised PHMSA on pipeline safety, said he believes the safety notice addresses some of the key issues associated with the pipeline, including the slow sliding of earth along the pipeline. However, Kuprevich stated that the safety order failed to solve the problem of the sudden landslide.
“I understand that I am trying to solve the problem of land slide, but given the changes in elevation that I have seen in this pipeline, I do not think this is your main threat,” he said. “Not just steep slopes, but steep slopes are where they collect water and liquefy the soil.”
“There are discussions in the industry about this issue and it is time to call on them to address this issue,” Kuprevich added. “Because there is no way to design a pipeline that can handle large-scale landslides safely.”
Maury Johnson of Greenville, West Virginia, who lives less than 800 feet from a section of pipeline that runs through his home, has raised concerns for years about pipeline degradation and possible ruptures from landslides.
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“They should have done this at least two years ago,” Johnson said of the latest PHMSA safety notice. “This is a good start. But I’m just wondering if they’re actually going to provide something.”
On August 11, the same day the PHMSA issued the safety order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit dismissed three lawsuits challenging planning permission for the Valley Pipeline.
In an opinion written by Judge Roger Gregory, the judge wrote that Section 324 of the Financial Liability Act of 2023, which added the Valley Pipeline project to the recent debt ceiling extension bill, left the court little choice.
“I am concerned that Congress will use the court’s respect for the constitutional prerogative of legislative privilege to undermine the Constitution and, in the process, make the court complicit in its actions,” Judge Gregory wrote. “If so, then I wonder what Article 324 is. Does this mean erosion not only of the environment, but also of our republic?”
“It’s a bit sad,” Johnson said of the court’s conclusion. “I genuinely care about our environment and our democracy as much as Judge Gregory.”
“Basically, they gave MVP [Mountain Valley Pipeline] the right to do whatever they want,” he said.
Phil McKenna is the Boston correspondent for Inside Climate News. Prior to joining ICN in 2016, he was a freelance writer covering energy and environmental issues for publications such as The New York Times, Smithsonian, Audubon and WIRED. His story about gas leaks in American cities, “Rebellion”, won the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award and the 2014 NASW Social Science Award. Phil holds a Master of Science in Non-Fiction from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a Fellow in Environmental Journalism at Middlebury College.
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Post time: Sep-05-2023