Where was Paylor on the Mountain Valley Pipeline?

By Bob Peckman

David Paylor wrote a very nice piece on April 24 about the urgent need to protect our environment and about the progress we have made doing that.

They are very nice words, but where was he when we were reporting egregious violations by Mountain Valley Pipeline?  We sent photographs and, rather than send someone to look, he dismissed them as false.  When it was so bad that mud closed Cahas Mountain Road, he praised MVP for clearing the road.

Much of the damage cannot be repaired and the mud continues. They have built on slopes that are so steep that there is erosion under their erosion controls.  The environmental damage will continue to happen long after they are gone.  This is in addition to the inevitable land-slip which increases our risk of explosion.  So, while David Paylor’s beautiful words were nice to read, action would have been far better.

And it is not too late to stop MVP and minimize the damage.

Bob Peckman is a PhD physicist retired from ITT and has been an Appalachian Trail maintainer for 40 years.  He is the treasurer of the environmental group, Rail Solution, and also a working jazz drummer living in Roanoke.