Many of these lines have been built over the past five years to transport natural gas from the Marcellus Shale region of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Western Virginia, where hydraulic fracturing has been rampant. Western Virginia alone has seen a fourfold increase in natural gas production over the past decade.
Such rapid growth has also led to hundreds of safety and environmental violations, particularly under the Trump administration’s reduced oversight and streamlined approvals for pipeline projects. While energy companies promise economic benefits to depressed regions, the pipeline projects increase the lives of people in their path.
As a technical and professional communications scientist focused on how rural communities deal with complex problems, and a geography scientist who specializes in interactions between people and environments, we worked together to study the effects of pipeline development in rural Appalachia. In 2020, we conducted a survey and talked to dozens of people living near pipelines in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
What we have found sheds light on the tension and uncertainty that communities experience when natural gas pipelines change their landscape. Residents live with the fear of disasters, the noise of construction and the fear of having no control over their own land.
“None of this is fair”
Appalachians are no stranger to environmental risk. The region has a long and complex history with extractive industries, including coal and hydraulic fracturing. However, it is rare to tell first-hand about the long-term consequences of the development of industrial infrastructure in rural communities, especially in terms of pipelines, as it is the result of recent growth in the energy sector.
For all the people we spoke to, the process of pipeline development was protracted and often confusing.
Some reported that they never heard of a planned pipeline until a ‘landman’ – a representative of the gas company – knocked on the door to buy part of their property; others said they found out through newspaper articles or posts on social media. Every person we spoke to agreed that the burden finally fell on them to find out what was happening in their communities.
One woman in West Virginia said she began doing her own research after finding out what was planned for a pipeline that feeds a petrochemical complex several miles from her home. “I thought to myself, how did this happen? We knew nothing about it,” she said. “It’s not fair. None of this is fair. … We’re stuck with a polluting company.”
‘Lawyers ate us’
If residents do not want pipelines on their land, they can take legal action against the energy company, rather than making a settlement. However, this can lead to the use of leading domain.
Eminent domain is a right granted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to businesses to have access to privately owned property if the project is considered important to public needs. The compensation is decided by the courts on the basis of the determined land value, without taking into account the intangible things associated with the loss of the land around the house, such as loss of future income.
Through this process, residents may be forced to accept an amount that does not take into account all consequences of pipeline construction on their land, such as the damage that heavy equipment will cause to surrounding land and access roads.
One man we spoke to has been living on his family’s land for decades. In 2018, a representative of the company approached him for permission to install a new pipeline parallel to one that had been in place since 1962, far from his home. However, the crew experienced problems with the steep terrain and wanted to install it much closer to his home. Dissatisfied with the new placement, and when he saw erosion from the pipeline on the ridge behind his house causing flushing water, he hired a lawyer. After a few months back and forth with the company, he said, “They gave me a choice: Either sign the contract or do the leading domain. And my lawyer advised me not to want to do an important domain. not.”
Building pipelines cuts through farming. Erin Brock Carlson, CC BY-SA
There was a unanimous understanding among the 31 people with whom we interviewed that companies seem to have endless financial and legal resources, making court battles virtually invincible. Non-disclosure agreements can effectively silence landowners. Furthermore, it can be difficult to find attorneys who are licensed in West Virginia and do not already work for gas companies, and the legal costs can cost residents too much.
One woman, the chief landlord who has been farming her family for 80 years, has faced significant legal costs after a dispute with a gas company. “We were the first and last to fight with them, and then people saw what was going to happen to them, and they just did not have it – it cost us money to get lawyers. Lawyers ate us up,” he said. she said.
The pipeline now runs through what were once hayfields. “We have not had any income from the hay since they took it out in 2016,” she said. “It’s nothing but a weed spot.”
“I mean, who do you call?”
Twenty-six of the 45 respondents to the survey reported that they felt their property value had decreased due to pipeline, citing the risks of water pollution, explosion and unusable land.
Many of the 31 people we interviewed were concerned about the same kind of long-term problems, as well as gas leaks and air pollution. Hydraulic fracturing and other natural gas processes can affect drinking water sources, especially if spills or improper storage procedures occur. In addition, methane, a powerful greenhouse gas and volatile organic compounds, which can pose health hazards, are by-products of the natural gas supply chain.
Oil spills are a major concern among landowners. Erin Brock Carlson, CC BY-SA
“Forty years removed from this, are they going to be able to keep up and keep up with infrastructure? I mean, I can smell gas if I sit here now,” one man told us. His family saw the natural gas industry move into their part of West Virginia in the mid-2010s. In addition to a 36-inch pipe on his property, there are several smaller wells and lines. “This year, the company that serves the smaller lines had nine leaks … that’s what’s really bothering me,” he said.
The biggest concern that respondents cite from the survey was explosions.
According to data from 2010 to 2018, a pipeline explosion occurred on average every 11 days in the US. Although large pipeline explosions are relatively rare, they can be devastating. In 2012, a 20-inch transmission line exploded in Sissonville, West Virginia, damaging five homes and making four lanes of Interstate 77 look like a tarmac. ‘
Reinforcing these fears is the lack of consistent communication between companies and residents living along pipelines. About half of the people we interviewed reported that they did not have a business contact to call directly in case of a pipeline, such as spilling, leaking or exploding. “I mean, who do you call?” asks one woman.
‘We just keep doing the same’
Several people interviewed described a fatalistic attitude toward energy development in their communities.
Energy analysts expect gas production to increase this year after a slowdown in 2020. Pipeline companies expect to continue building. And while the government in Biden is likely to restore certain regulations, the president has said he will not ban fracking.
“It’s just sad because they think it’s going to be West Virginia’s rescue again,” said one landowner. “The harvest of the wood was, then it was our salvation to dig the coal. … And then here’s the third. We’re just doing the same.”
Erin Brock Carlson is an assistant professor of professional writing and editing at the University of West Virginia.
Martina Angela Caretta is a senior lecturer in human geography at Lund University.
Disclosure Statements: Dr. Carlson funded this project through the West Virginia University Humanities Center.
Dr. Caretta received funding for this project from the Heinz Foundation and the West Virginia University Humanities Center.
Replace with permission from The Conversation.
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