Requiem for Sinking Creek
Each day since February 1, the size and scope of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) crime scene at Sinking Creek in Giles County VA has increased exponentially. As of Feb. 7, the sediment plume in this formerly pristine creek is 5 miles long. Daily, new sources of mud entering the stream spring up. The increasing sediment in the stream causes the color to deepen daily. Neighbors report mud in their well water and are being supplied bottled water. Muddy waters are bubbling up in yards. There’s no indication this terror will lessen anytime soon. While this horrific scenario worsens, MVP continues to excavate, blast, trench and carve through fragile dissolved limestone - karst – with its uncharted channels just below ground. The unpredictable karst is the reason experts warned against putting a pipeline here. This awful scenario was foretold, and ignored.
Between November 13, 2023 and February 6, 2024, 18 separate reports of sediment plumes in Sinking Creek were submitted to the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). All were closed out as ‘no compliance issue observed’ or ‘duplicate’ within days, with no actions taken to locate or curtail the source of the mud. The DEQ has not cited the MVP for violations, despite the obviously unfolding crisis. On Nov. 6, an MVP work crew was seen pressure washing mud off grass – the only acknowledgment of an issue.
Systemic failures at every point allowed this nightmare to happen. Russell Chisholm of the local advocacy group Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights (POWHR) reflects, ‘We warned them that this exact situation would happen, and now the nightmare is unfolding before our eyes.’
Preeminent geologist Dr. Ernst Kastning’s 2016 comment to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was an early warning of the ‘no build’ zone here:
‘Should MVP select to drill a horizontal hole beneath Sinking Creek for the pipe at this intersection (milepost 210), there would be an immitigable problem with groundwater. Such a horizontally drilled hole would undoubtedly intersect the path of water flow in the bedrock beneath the creek. This would interrupt the natural subsurface flow, influencing groundwater resources supplying numerous homes. This placement, within a zone of active and sustained groundwater flow, would also cause unwanted future problems with the pipe, in an aqueous groundwater environment.
… the Sinking Creek site is not suitable for the pipeline. Crossing Sinking Creek over a reach where it is losing water to the subsurface is a very poor choice. Hydrologic conditions, whether on the surface or in the subsurface would severely impact construction and contribute to degradation of the pipe once it is in place. Also, should a failure in the pipeline occur at Sinking Creek, contaminants would follow the established routes of infiltration and be introduced into the extensive groundwater system of Sinking Creek extending all of the way to the New River (as determined by the dye traces by Saunders and others (1981)). Moreover, a pipeline failure would severely impact residents drawing water from wells. Apparently MVP was not aware of these highly important constraints imposed by Sinking Creek.
This location is obviously a ‘no-build’ option.’
Local soil scientist Nan Gray describes this area as ‘dangerous ground’ for such a project, since the soil here is highly erodible. She advises, ‘Soils will collapse. They will move downhill. They will not be able to hold up the pipe.’
Our protections and regulatory agencies have failed in their responsibilities to protect people and the environment. They are complicit in giving the MVP permission to destroy precious, life-giving, critical, necessary resources and environments. Corporations are being enabled to destroy our communities.
Virginia’s DEQ has the ability to issue a stop work order for the MVP. The criteria for a stop work order is enumerated in their guidance memo # 18-2004. The current situation meets all of DEQ’s criteria:
* the pipeline is greater than 36”
* the MVP has approved annual standards & specifications
* substantial or imminent adverse impact to water quality
But the DEQ refuses to admit water quality is impacted, as they ignore the sediment-filled waterways, ongoing harms and reports of violations.
A 2019 Consent Decree exists with the DEQ & the State Water Control Board dictating specific fines for MVP’s damages when their erosion & sediment (E&S) control measures fail. The MVP has racked up 350+ E&S violations and $2 million in fines since construction began… that is, when the DEQ was responding to reports of violations. Since the Fiscal Responsibility Act’s green-lighting of the project, the DEQ has ignored MVP’s violations, including the aggregious violations occurring at Sinking Creek today.
The Consent Decree enumerates fines for failure to properly install erosion and sediment controls and for work ‘which results in visible and measurable sediment deposition off of the right of way onto adjacent property.’ Specific fines are cited for ‘the release of sediment off of the right of way into surface waters of the Commonwealth that results in the accumulation of fill material, (with) a separate penalty (that) shall apply for each separate, identifiable, and discrete discharge to wetlands and streams’ -- precisely the conditions the MVP has created.
Virginia’s Attorney General Jason Miyares and his office have as their clients the state agencies, boards and commissions and the responsibility to ‘(represent) the interests of the people of Virginia.’ A.G. Miyares has the authority to tell the DEQ they must inspect the MVP’s work and damage more closely. The A.G. has the power to advise the DEQ to issue a stop work order. Advocacy groups have for weeks asked to speak with Miyares about this crisis, with no response.
One community member recalls a visit by former DEQ director David Paylor to a community center close to Sinking Creek early in the MVP saga. When asked what would happen should people’s water become compromised, he responded ‘find another source.’
The Pipeline Hazardous Materials and Safety Administration (PHMSA) was to meet onsite with communities on the MVP route on January 23, but that visit was canceled late on January 19 and has not been rescheduled.
Perry Martin, a member of the Giles County board of supervisors states in his letter to the DEQ,
‘I have lived in this community my entire life and am hard-pressed to recall a time seeing this much mud in the stream.
Perhaps connected to this problem, I have received reports of drinking water from nearby water sources that has become cloudy over the past week. …property owners are understandably concerned about their drinking water and the restoration of their land.
The community needs answers as to what has happened and what is being done to stop the problem. I also believe that any work that MVP is doing that adds to this problem be stopped until appropriate measures are in place to mitigate the problem and address the damage that is actively happening. Additionally, I believe there will need to be discussion about MVP’s responsibility to any long-term impacts on the health of the stream and drinking water used by residents along this route. We need DEQ’s assistance to hold the company accountable both short-term and long-term. The most basic protections of our land and water are obviously not working and responding to this problem is central to the mission of the Department of Environmental Quality.’
Virginia Tech student Ryan Smith writes in a letter to a reporter,
‘Newport VA, its beautiful parks, and its magnificent, covered bridges are only a short drive from Virginia Tech’s campus. For years, this town has served as an area for students to escape from school and enjoy the quiet and pristine nature it has to offer. Whether sitting by the river at the covered bridge, taking a dog to the community park, or fishing, Newport has always provided an opportunity to escape the fast paced life of a college student.
Sinking Creek and Newport have a special place in my heart. I discovered Sinking Creek my freshman year back in 2020 and couldn’t believe the beauty of this pristine native fishery. When ever I had free time outside of classes I would head to Sinking Creek to fish. This became routine for me, and I began to visit multiple times a week.
This last Tuesday however, my routine was permanently interrupted. My quaint get away from the busyness of school was permanently altered. I had learned to live with the noises of construction while fishing there and tried my best to ignore the pipeline right of way that cuts through the town, but I could not ignore what I experienced on January 28th and the disaster that continues to happen since. While headed to fish I noticed a large amount of sediment pouring directly into the creek from a pipe. This pipe is connected to a spring that flows across/ under an adjacent landowners’ property and empties into sinking creek. The sediment dumping from this pipe was not a result of runoff from a heavy rain or flooding. This was contaminated ground water draining from a permanently altered aquifer.
Sediment entering a creek like this has drastic impacts on the stream health and immediate ecosystems, choking out plants, smothering and killing aquatic organisms, and ultimately destroying this fishery and its ecosystem. Every day since Tuesday I have gone back out to Newport in hopes that there would be an improvement, but there hasn’t. Since Tuesday, the pipe has continued to pour sediment at a constant rate. The entire creek below this pipe now runs brown. This has gone on so long now that even if a solution is found to stop the sediment, I am worried I may never be able to fish this creek again. My once pristine escape from college life is no more and the days of quaint uninterrupted fly fishing on Sinking Creek may be ruined for many generations to come.
Jammie Hale of the community states:
‘In 2018, I dealt with system failure and basically the same thing that happening in the town of Newport happened on my property. Everybody in these communities either has dealt with a water issue, or sedimentation in their well water.’
Kellie Ferguson of Giles County describes the trauma of witnessing the decimation of Sinking Creek:
‘The most frustrating part of watching water sources in our communities be destroyed is that we warned them every step of the way. Experts and specialists told them they couldn’t safely put a pipeline through the heavy karst in Giles County and they did it anyway. Now our communities have to mourn what we’ve lost while they continue working.’
This tragic situation isn’t limited to Sinking Creek. The ‘exceptional waters’ of Bottom Creek in nearby Roanoke County are also being sacrificed by MVP and their enablers who allow these crimes to occur and continue. The Bottom Creek community worked for 10 years to achieve its exalted Tier III status. MVP’s errors have decimated the waters. An environmental inspector was recorded at an erosion control failure site, ignoring the incident. A neighbor questioned him about when the unfolding horror would be addressed, to which he vaguely answered ‘maybe tomorrow’ while a full work crew worked on the site.
This story is being repeated in many communities wherever the fossil fuel industry’s outsized influence holds sway with local governments. A terrifying precedent has been set at the national level with Congress’ green-lighting the MVP, nullifying existing regulatory, legislative and judicial hurdles, assuring that ever more projects will use the same tactic. It’s of paramount importance to stop this pipeline, in order to stop this industry from steamrolling through more projects in this same manner.
DEQ pushes wholesome words and images touting their ‘good neighbor’ policies, and has the audacity to use an image of one of the covered bridges at formerly pristine Sinking Creek for publicity. Under their watch and their current negligence, this spot has turned a lifeless and hellish orange-brown.
A petition drive is underway to compel the AG to act. It’s one of the very last options available, now that our previous protective laws and regulations have been gutted. Please sign and share widely. This debacle will be coming soon to a neighborhood near you all too soon.
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/old-folks-demand-virginia-ag-hold-mvp-accountable/
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Contact VA’s DEQ and WV’s DEP, tag them on social media, write/email/tag VA’s Sen Tim Kaine. WV Sen Joe Manchin, who wrought this madness on us, needs to hear clearly and often the results of his disloyalty to his own community. Senators have influence over state agencies, which have the power to issue stop work orders to halt harms.
VA DEQ 1-804-698-4000, Director Mike Rolband (804) 698-4020 Michael.Rolband@DEQ.Virginia.gov; Lee Crowell, Director, Enforcement (804) 664-3882 Lee.Crowell@DEQ.Virginia.gov
VA Attorney General Jason Miyares (804)786-2071, email: MailOAG@oag.state.va.us
WV DEP (304) 926-0499
WV Sen Joe Manchin in DC: (202) 224-3954, in Charleston (304) 342-5855
VA Sen Tim Kaine in DC (202) 224-4024, in Roanoke (540) 682-5693
MVP 844-MVP-TALK, email: mail@mountainvalleypipeline.info
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If you are able, please donate to the legal defense fund for pipeline fighters: bit.ly/AppLegalDefense. Protectors face ever-increasing, expensive intimidation tactics and legal charges, but remain undaunted.
The worthy on-the-ground groups fighting the disaster spelled MVP. Please support them, if you are able:
https://www.aapsolidarity.org/
https://powhr.org/
https://7directionsofservice.com/ which will host a Water Walk on Feb. 17 along the proposed Southgate Extension route
In honor of Bill Limpert – the most stalwart, brilliant and generous pipeline fighter who left us far too soon. Bill, you continue to model and inspire others. You have my total admiration and appreciation. <3 <3 <3
Appalachia's Mountain Valley Pipeline Crime Scene bears witness to the ongoing harms MVP is committing. Both free & paid subscribers will receive all posts. Paid subscribers support my travel, and excess funds will be donated to AAP and POWHR. Thank you!