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Equipment set on fire at Mountain Valley Pipeline site + NC dodges 140 tons of toxic compound

Equipment set on fire at Mountain Valley Pipeline site investigated as arson

A piece of earth moving equipment has been set on fire at Mountain Valley Pipeline construction site in Virginia, causing $500,000 in damage. Authorities received a call on Saturday night reporting a car fire but when they arrived they found a Caterpillar PL87 pipe layer located in the pipeline construction right-of-way ablaze. The fire damaged no other equipment. Fire marshals have decided that the fire was set intentionally and are investigating it as arson. The proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline is a 303-mile pipeline that will run from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia.

Malec Brothers withdraw permit to use methyl bromide in Columbus County, NC

An Australian company that had planned to emit up to 140 tons of toxic compound in their log fumigation business has withdrawn their air permit to emit methyl bromide, says the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The plan encountered strong public opposition and state officials scrambled to petition the Environmental Management Commission for a new rule to add methyl bromide to the state’s list of air toxins.

Methyl bromide has been banned internationally for most uses because of its toxicity and ozone-depleting properties, but log fumigation is an exception. China will accept only exported logs that have been fumigated, but Malec Brothers has decided to debark the logs instead. The fumigation would have taken place less than a mile from a school.

 

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