Mode of Program Participation
Academic Scholarship
Participation Type
Panel
Session Title
Federal (Un) Regulation of Natural Gas Production and Distribution Systems: Eco-Human Implications
Session Abstract or Summary
This panel explores how the autonomous permitting process by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is funded by the companies it regulates, for mega natural gas pipelines will result in permanent and immitigable harm to environmental, human, and eco-human relations ranging from local eco-cultural destruction to underpinning of American democratic foundations. Presentations focus on the proposed Appalachian-located Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), but offer broader implications into the environmental, public health, economic, and ethical spheres of these projects at the national and international levels. The proposed MVP is intended to run for 301 miles from Wetzel County, West Virginia, to Pittsylvania County, Virginia, with only two possible local connections before connection with the major eastern interstate Transco line. It will carry methane and toxic byproducts at 1450 psi, and 2.5 billion cubic feet/day or greater. It will transport fracked gas produced in Appalachian Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania by EQT Corporation. EQT is also the major partner in constructing the line. MVP is one of at least four Appalachian and 12 eastern US mega pipelines proposed. Presenter Carl Zipper will present on cumulative environmental effects; April Pierson-Keating will discuss the economic, psychological, and toxification effects of fracking on the sustainability of West Virginia communities; Diana Christopulos will report on the impact of the repeated loss of and habitat destruction of such vital forest resources as the Appalachian Trail and wilderness areas; and Joe Pitt will explore the ethical implications of the loss of human cultural attachment to “place.”
Presentation #1 Title
Fracturing Lives: Gas and Its Effect on Communities in the Appalachian Region
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Horizontal hydraulic fracturing as a way to extract gas began in earnest in 2007 in what has historically been Coalfield Appalachia. Since then, residents in the natural gas fields of Appalachia have seen a downturn in their quality of life. Detrimental health effects, stress on roadways, environmental predation and toxification, economic exploitation, and political corruption have held the area hostage and perpetuated a sense of helplessness and hopelessness that has, in turn, reduced local investment in economic and cultural alternatives that would reverse this downturn. The rhetoric that development of our fossil fuel resources is “the best we can do” has kept the region from exploring healthier alternatives. This presentation will explore the realities about fracked gas extraction from cradle to grave, and its effect on water, public health, economics and communities.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
April Pierson-Keating is an environmental activist focusing on fracking and pipeline related issues. She is a co-founder of Mountain Lakes Preservation Alliance in central West Virginia (http://www.mountainlakespreservation.org/), which is a founding member of POWHR (https://powhr.org/) . For the last two years she has been involved in the fight against the Mountain Valley Pipeline and the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.
Presentation #2 Title
How the Uncontrolled Permitting Process of FERC Impacts Near-Sacred National Environmental Resources
Presentation #2 Abstract or Summary
The Federal Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the federal agency supervising the approval of natural gas line permits to use rights of eminent domain to acquire private property for the construction of pipelines, whether serving local needs or as transmission lines transporting natural gas to U.S. liquefaction facilities for overseas transport and sale. As a federal commission, it is not directly or indirectly under Congressional oversight or review. Furthermore, its budget, while filtered through Congress, comes directly from the gas industry it regulates. As a result, it almost never rejects a pipeline or pipeline compressor station application for an eminent domain permit of “convenience and necessity.” This presentation will examine the FERC’s exercise of its power to determine acceptable locations for mega (42” diameter) pipeline routes, compressor stations, access roads, and other supporting structures through the threats the MVP poses to wilderness, forested lands, and hikers’ experiences of the nationally highly-valued Appalachian Trail. It will focus on the loss of species habitat, destruction of forested and wilderness areas, and the viability of these resources on the Appalachian Trail. Critical to this discussion is recognition that these destructive forces are permitted by FERC over and over again, creating a mosaic of forest fragmentation and loss.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #2
Diana Christopulos (Ph.D. History, SUNY Binghamton University) is President of the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club and President of Roanoke Valley Cool Cities Coalition located in Roanoke, Virginia. She has been a leading activist against the Mountain Valley Pipeline from the perspective of its impact on forests, wilderness preserves, and the Appalachian Trail.
Presentation #3 Title
The Unethical Consequences of Cultural Detachment
Presentation #3 Abstract or Summary
One of the most heart rending aspects of bringing massive fracked gas pipelines, such as the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline, through small rural communities is the destructive effect they have on the population's cultural attachment to the land and their history there. In Giles County, Virginia, the proposed pipeline is slated to come through rural farming lands worked for years dating back to the Revolutionary War. The residents affected can trace their heritage back through multiple generations, and the stories they tell of growing up in rural Valley and Ridge Appalachian Virginia are not merely touching, they are history. To destroy that history is to commit the highest of unethical acts on the part of a coalition of government and profit seeking corporations. This presentation will explore these acts from the perspective of environmental ethics and the concept of “cultural attachment.”
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #3
Joe Pitt (Ph.D. Philosophy, University of Western Ontario) is a Virginia Tech professor specializing in the history and philosophy of science and technology. The Mountain Valley Pipeline was scheduled to cross his and his wife’s 60 acre Giles County, Virginia, property, having the potential to seriously impact 42 years worth of personal investment in nurturing and enhancing it in environmentally-sensitive ways.
Presentation #4 Title
Natural Gas in Appalachia: An Overview of Market Trends, Infrastructure Development, and Environmental Effects
Presentation #4 Abstract or Summary
The development of hydrofracturing technology and its application in Appalachia is having widespread effects. Largely as a result expanding natural gas production from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations, the USA has transitioned from a potential liquid natural gas (LNG) importer to a projected exporter. In association with expanded production, infrastructure is being developed to transport and utilize that natural gas. Pipelines, generating plants, and LNG terminals have multi-decade lifespans; hence, this infrastructure development is building protracted greenhouse-gas emissions into North American energy systems. Some of that infrastructure development is occurring within Appalachian forests that remain as among the most diverse non-tropical ecosystems in the world. This presentation will provide an overview of energy market and infrastructure patterns and trends that are occurring as a result of Appalachian hydrofracturing, with an emphasis on environmental effects.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #4
Carl Zipper (Ph.D., Virginia Tech, Agronomy) is a Virginia Tech professor in Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences. He conducts research, teaching, and outreach addressing environmental issues of societal concern, with emphasis on the interface of environmental science with natural resource management and government policy. He conducts research on topics that include environmental impacts by coal mining, methods for mitigating those impacts, and water quality.
Fracturing Lives: Gas and Its Effect on Communities in the Appalachian Region
Horizontal hydraulic fracturing as a way to extract gas began in earnest in 2007 in what has historically been Coalfield Appalachia. Since then, residents in the natural gas fields of Appalachia have seen a downturn in their quality of life. Detrimental health effects, stress on roadways, environmental predation and toxification, economic exploitation, and political corruption have held the area hostage and perpetuated a sense of helplessness and hopelessness that has, in turn, reduced local investment in economic and cultural alternatives that would reverse this downturn. The rhetoric that development of our fossil fuel resources is “the best we can do” has kept the region from exploring healthier alternatives. This presentation will explore the realities about fracked gas extraction from cradle to grave, and its effect on water, public health, economics and communities.
