There was a natural gas explosion on Salvation Road in Berkeley County on Monday, September 21 sending pressurized gas up to 100 feet in the air—only feet from a residence—which caused all homes and businesses in a 330-foot radius from the blast to be evacuated. The company putting in the gas line to Rockwool, Mountaineer Gas Company, is constructing without any permits on record.
MGC working without a permit
For the last eight months, Jefferson County Foundation, in partnership with the Eastern Panhandle Protectors, has been working to monitor Mountaineer Gas Company’s construction activity on this pipeline. The company is installing a new gas line in the same location as an old, no longer in service gas line so they can utilize the rights-of-way. Several complaints have been filed with the DEP and despite several inspections, Mountaineer Gas has repeatedly convinced the DEP that this construction project is a few segments of pipeline being replaced for safety reasons. In fact, in the inspection report from March 2020, the DEP inspector reported that Mountaineer Gas said they would seek a permit before pursuing the section of pipeline they are currently working on where the explosion was on Monday. Mountaineer Gas has not obtained this permit.
Last week, the PSC told Jefferson County Foundation that Mountaineer Gas was not building pipeline in Berkeley County. The accident is a glaring example that this is simply not true. From a search of the Department of Transportation (DOT) division Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration (PHMSA) database, it seems they have no registration for Mountaineer Gas building pipeline or distributing natural gas in Berkeley County. A FOIA of the administration for this information has as of yet not been fulfilled yet.
“This incident is an example of the careless manner in which Mountaineer Gas is installing the gas pipeline to Rockwool. We have again and again tried to get Mountaineer Gas to have the pipeline appropriately permitted, but they have refused to do so,” states Dr. Christine Wimer, president of Jefferson County Foundation. “The regulators are all too happy to oblige Mountaineer Gas’s obfuscation of the regulatory requirements. The regulators have abandoned their post of protecting the public. This cannot be tolerated.”
Tracy Cannon, president of Eastern Panhandle Protectors, said, “I was just at the site at 5:00 p.m. and could still smell the gas. I’ve been watching the pipeline construction in the Eastern Panhandle closely for two years now. I’ve often been concerned about what I saw. Mountaineer Gas Company has been installing new pipeline on Salvation Road without removing the old pipeline first. I was worried that something could go wrong, but I’m still shocked that this happened. Thankfully no one was injured.”