“Many families have lived along the banks of the Haw for generations, and several towns here were built around river culture. The land means everything to them. We’ve been organizing landowners and community members in Alamance and Rockingham counties. They are fighters: arranging meetings with officials, reaching out to the media, and asking the really hard questions at the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) public hearings. We’re planning to show up at every county and municipality meeting that we can, pushing for even more resolutions that will pressure state officials and agencies to reject the MVP. Our community is strong and connected, and we’re not willing to back down. We’re fighting to stop this pipeline completely.”

Emily Sutton

Haw Riverkeeper of the Haw River Assembly, a member organization of Waterkeeper Alliance

< BACK
< BACK

MOVEMENT PARTNER PROFILE: 

GRASSROOTS ACTIONS PROTECT WATER QUALITY FOR HUMANS 

& WILDLIFE

In April 2018, Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC announced plans to extend the MVP 70 miles from Pittsylvania County in Virginia into North Carolina through Rockingham and Alamance counties, crossing streams and wetlands that will threaten wildlife habitat and the drinking water for local residents. The Sierra Club began working with local partners along the proposed pipeline route to raise awareness and activate engagement of local communities. 

THREAT

TOXIC POLLUTION OF DRINKING WATER

​

WILDLIFE ECOSYSTEM CONTAMINATION 

RESPONSE

RALLIED REGULATORY AGENCIES TO REJECT 

GAS PIPELINES

​

INDEFINITELY DELAYED CONSTRUCTION THROUGH 

LEGAL CHALLENGES

 

A partnership with the Haw River Assembly rallied local supporters, amplified coalition voices, and coordinated advocacy among landowners and community members in Rockingham and Alamance counties to pressure regulatory agencies to reject the destructive and unnecessary fracked gas project. As the result of the construction delays from our grassroots opposition throughout the summer, the company funding the pipeline has seen its shares fall by at least 21 percent and construction costs go up by nearly $1 billion. Coupled with our powerful grassroots activism in North Carolina’s local communities, our legal challenges have delayed the construction of MVP indefinitely. Permit after permit has been denied for this dirty and dangerous pipeline. The coalition has called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue a stop-work order on any construction. 

< BACK