The Case
for Pipeline
Construction
JENNIFER JETT PREZKOP
Author’s Note: As the editor in chief, I don’t volunteer for many writing assignments, but this topic was of particular interest
to me. As a West Virginian, I put a great deal of value on the natural beauty of our Mountain Mama. As an employee of a
pro-energy, pro-fossil fuel, pro-economy business publication, I also find it of the utmost importance to create good-paying
jobs for our people. Moving back home to West Virginia last year, my husband and I planted roots in Ripley, just down the
road from a Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) construction site and a new compressor station. In hearing about the legal
battles affecting both the MVP and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP), media coverage seemed to focus on the views of
environmentalists—many of whom are completely against all extraction of fossil fuels—with little if any coverage on what
MVP or ACP are doing to build vital infrastructure responsibly. The coverage has seemed one-sided at best to me, so I
decided to seek out the other side of the story.
Environment versus economy. As Americans—and West Vir-
ginians—it feels like we are being told we must either choose
our mountains and streams or our jobs and electricity because
we can’t have both.
In an age of innovation and technological advancement in
which we can build better, faster and safer, why should having
both be beyond our grasp?
Protection Versus Obstruction
The construction of infrastructure, from pipelines and high-
ways to airports and manufacturing plants, has always raised
concerns, and the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) and Atlantic
Coast Pipeline (ACP) are no different. After all, any kind of
major disruption to land and water should drive community
members to ask questions and ensure that those overseeing
the construction projects will handle these invaluable elements
with kid gloves. However, some environmental protesters have
taken this guardianship role to an extreme level in which they
don’t just want to protect the environment. Without consider-
ation for the economic impact of doing so, they want to eliminate
the fossil fuel industry entirely, and they want to do it on the
back of renewable energy sources.
Renewables aren’t ready to stand on their own as the only—
or even main—source of energy, though. According to Josh
Fershee, a professor at West Virginia University College of Law
and a globally recognized expert in the areas of energy law and
STOP WORK ORDERS
Mountain Valley Pipeline
The MVP, a 300-mile pipeline project whose route will run from
West Virginia to Virginia, was stopped by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, which oversees interstate natural gas
pipelines, after the construction permits granted for a three-
and-a-half-mile right-of-way in the Jefferson National Forest
by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management
were pulled by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Atlantic Coast Pipeline
The 600-mile ACP project, which will cross through parts of
West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina, voluntarily suspended
construction after the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled
that the U.S. Forest Service illegally granted permission for
the pipeline to cross the Appalachian Trail.
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SPRING 2019
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