The Mountain Valley Pipeline is hoping to build a new compressor station in Montgomery County, which would allow the pipeline to move more natural gas. Friday, December 19th is the deadline for residents to submit their comments to federal regulators about the proposal.
For a glimpse of what may be headed their way, Radio IQ went to Greenbrier County, West Virginia, to talk with a family who lives next to one of MVP’s existing compressor stations.
There’s fresh snow and bitter cold on the Eisenman’s farm, and it got down to 1 degree in the night. The Mountain Valley Pipeline runs right through fields of cows. Above us, just out of view at the top of the ridge, less than a mile away and just over the Fayette County line, is the Stallworth compressor station.
“It hasn’t given me anything but noise and aggravation,” said Gary Eisenman, a Baptist preacher. He and his son have raised cattle here for decades. Since the pipeline was built, there’s been construction, muddy runoff, and quite often, noise.
“These cattle, they don’t like that noise,” Eisenman said. “Animals don’t like that noise. They don’t like that mess. You’re disturbing God’s creation.”
Today, the air is pretty quiet. It’s like a faint hum in the background. His son Stacy says, there have been other days when it was loud enough to keep them up at night.
“If you’re out hunting, you can’t hear the deer coming,” said Stacy Eisenman. “You have to see them. It’s loud enough that you can’t hear them walking in the woods. You see them before you hear them.”
The Eisenman’s breed bulls for rodeos. Famous bulls from across the country have gone into their stock, with names like Jack the ripper, Blueberry Wine, Houdini.
Stacy thinks the sounds from the compressor station have made the bulls more agitated.
“If you’ve ever been to a bull ride or seen one, music’s cranked up, it’s just part of the adrenaline,” said Stacy Eisenman. “And they’re used to that for a short period of time. Here lately, it’s been like they’ve never left the bull ride. They’ve never left the rodeo. They’re a little edgy.”
He’s worried about what impacts this all may have for the health of their animals, and themselves. He’s concerned about water pollution and air quality from the compressor station too.
Gary Eisenman said he feels like this pipeline has been a never-ending fight between a wealthy company, and rural people without much power to resist them. He shared this take with an MVP representative, who was at a recent community meeting.
“And I said, ‘Buddy if you had to sleep in it every night, you’d be different. But you don’t care. It’s, just as long as you get your dollar, that’s all you’re after. The love of money is the root of all evil, and God’s word says that. And you love plenty of it.’”
MVP wants to enlarge the compressor station near the Eisenman’s farm, and two other stations in West Virginia as part of a project called MVP Boost, to increase capacity for the pipeline. According to MVP spokesperson Shawn Day, utility companies in Virginia and North Carolina have already committed to using the gas, and it will go to customers in the Southeast.
As part of MVP Boost, they’re proposing to build a new, additional compressor station 100 miles away in Elliston, Virginia. Day said the Swann compressor station will not cause health impacts for nearby residents. “This facility, as proposed, is a minor source of emissions, and will operate well within limits that are recognized by the U.S. EPA, and Virginia DEQ, as protective of public health,” Day said at a recent public meeting in Shawsville.
“I think this will be a very safe facility,” said Steve Fijalkowski, with the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors. He visited the Stallworth station in West Virginia and said he was impressed with the safety features. He’s heard from constituents who are worried about the risks if the pipeline fails.
“I hear that a lot. Matter of fact, some of my fellow supervisors say, ‘it’s not if the pipeline blows up, it’s when,’” Fijalkowski said. “There’s a lot of things that can happen. Is it likely to happen? And that’s where I don’t think it is likely. I don’t believe it is. You can say, ‘alright well I don’t trust the people that put it in the ground.’ Well I can’t help you there,” said Fijalkowski.
He added that he doesn’t believe county officials don’t have any power over whether the compressor station is built, that’s up to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
But, at a county meeting on December 15th, five others on the board voted in favor of sending a letter to FERC, asking for more clarity on safety concerns with the compressor station.
Other local leaders have given the project an enthusiastic vote of confidence, including the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce. “We look forward to seeing it develop,” said the Chamber’s CEO Eric Sichau. “It’s really gonna be an economic development driver and help our businesses that are already using natural gas continue to thrive.”
Four researchers at Virginia Tech recently submitted a comment to FERC, detailing an Environmental justice study they conducted with residents near the proposed Swann Compressor station in Elliston.
The study found "41% of residents are vulnerable to environmental harm due to age (with 118 children and 74 senior citizens in the sample),” according to the submission. “Of surveyed households, 43% include at least one resident with a chronic illness or disability, including 41% with a lung or heart condition, making them more susceptible to harm from pollution.”
Crystal Mello lives in Montgomery County has been organizing with the POWHR coalition, going door to door talk with neighbors about how they feel about the proposed compressor station. She said many people she’s spoken to are unaware about the pipeline or the project.
“And I feel angry that people in this town aren’t fighting for the people who live in Elliston who are lower income who already have health disparities,” Mello said at public meeting organized by MVP on Dec. 9. “I feel like there are people that aren’t at this meeting tonight because whether they work two jobs because the electric bill’s high, or they don’t have anybody to care for their kids to come to a meeting like this. I feel like they’re being taken advantage of,” Mello said.
At the MVP community meeting in Shawsville, a representative from FERC told residents they can submit comments anytime about the proposed compressor station.
“But there is an active scoping period right now, that we encourage people to try to file by that deadline,” said Kelley Munozlytle, with FERC’s Office of Public Participation.
Residents have until December 19th to submit their comments to FERC.
Back in West Virginia, Gary Eisenman offered this advice to anyone in the path of a compressor station. “Take a lot of pictures before they ever start, so they can see what it’s like and see what they tear up. Anything that they tell you, you get it in writing.”
Next year Eisenman and his wife will turn 86. His opinion of MVP has only worsened in the decade he’s had dealings with them. “They lie to you. They make promises they can’t keep,” Eisenman said.
If the MVP Boost project is approved, the company could begin construction on the expanded compressor station near the Eisenman’s home in December 2026.
