The Mountain Valley Pipeline is hoping to build a compressor station in Montgomery County, and the company has filed an application for an air permit with state regulators.
Cletus Bohon lives 300 yards from the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which began transporting natural gas last summer. He recently learned MVP is planning to build a compressor station two miles from his home, so the pipeline can move more gas.
Bohon was one of six residents who filed a lawsuit against the pipeline company, after they took their land through eminent domain. The case almost made it to the Supreme Court, but was ultimately rejected. After fighting against the pipeline for more than a decade, this feels like a gut punch.
“It’s depressing for sure,” Bohon said. “It has been stressful, yes.”
Bohon's main concern is safety—what if there’s an incident or an explosion at the compressor station? His only access out or into his home is by crossing a railroad track right next to where the station would be, and he’s worried an accident could block the track.
He’s also worried about air pollution. MVP’s air permit application describes some of the chemicals their compressor station may release: formaldehyde, nitric oxide, and carbon monoxide, among others.
A spokesperson for MVP said they estimate the pollution will be well within limits established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and their company is taking extra steps to further lower emissions.
But researcher Curtis Davis said there are health concerns with even lower levels of these pollutants. “Higher risk of respiratory irritation, things like asthma, higher risk of cardiovascular diseases, like heart failure or heart attacks, even higher risk of some psychological impacts, like chronic stress, anxiety, depression,” Davis said.
He was part of an interdisciplinary team of researchers with a group called the Virginia Scientist Community Interface that published a 2023 study in the journal Geohealth. They found evidence that current methods of monitoring underestimate risks from compressor stations. He says residents who live near these stations can be exposed to toxins, even inside their homes.
“Because air inside the home often recycles very slowly and it can lead to an accumulation of pollutants from outside the home,” Davis said.
Their study’s findings recommend tighter restrictions by the Environmental Protection Agency, a position the American Lung Association also shares. Davis said pollutants can cause even more harm when people are exposed to several different types of chemicals or have other risk factors.
“People in these communities where compressor stations are often built may have some higher risk factors, things like lower income, older age, even younger age, like children,” Davis said.
Virginia has an environmental justice law that requires companies to file an environmental justice report as part of air quality permit applications. MVP’s report concludes over 40 percent of residents within three miles of the proposed compressor station live in a low-income community.
“I think many people are so exhausted by this,” said Irene Leech, who lives four miles from where the compressor station would go. “It’s been going on for so long.”
She said she wants to make sure if the project is approved, residents can access air monitoring data near the compressor station, so they know when they may be exposed to higher levels of pollutants.
“When something’s not measured, it’s as if it doesn’t exist,” Leech said.
State and federal regulators will be reviewing MVP’s applications over the coming months, and the pipeline company is estimating the project could be completed by 2028.
MVP is planning a community meeting on December 9th at the Meadowview Public Library in Shawsville at 5:30 to discuss the project.
Residents and community organizations are also planning a different meeting at the Meadowview Library, on November 24th at 5:30.
