A gas pipeline as nearly as big as a roll of hay? Georgia Haverty uses a tape measure and one of her rolls of hay to show the size of the proposed gas pipeline through her farm. At 42-inches in diameter it’s bigger than 99% of all gas pipelines across the country. Only 1/10 of a mile, or 528 feet, of pipe that diameter exists in all of West Virginia according the most recent reports from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. In Virginia, the 42-inch diameter piping is only found in the Transcontinental pipeline according to the same data. Both the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline and Atlantic Coast Pipeline will 42 inches in diameter and require a trench that’s 10 feet deep through Appalachia’s rocky and steep terrain. For scale, Haverty is six-feet tall and the tape measure is extended to 42-inches in the photo.
Haverty and her family run a dog kennel, farm, pick-your-own orchard and wedding venue on her family farm, Doe Creek Farm in Giles County, Virginia. The proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline would cut through her farm and farmyard.
Georgia Haverty’s farm in Giles County, Virginia includes a scenic wedding venue, orchard, dog kennel and perhaps in the future, a 42-inch natural gas pipeline. Haverty is fighting the pipeline. “NO ADVERSE EFFECT” was the final judgement in Mountain Valley Pipeline’s “Viewpoint Analysis” filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on May 10, 2017 using Google Earth and Google Earth Ground View to illustrate and judge visual impact at Doe Creek Farm. See report below.