Matt Zborowski
Assistant Editor
Executives of Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP)breathed sighs of relief during January and February when newly inaugurated US President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order to advance work on the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Army Corps of Engineers subsequently granted an easement needed to complete construction on the project.
Protestors cleared the site near the Missouri River on Feb. 22, but the fight continued as the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes undertook last-ditch legal efforts to prevent the line from becoming fully operational. The months of intense feelings associated with the saga will continue to burn for the foreseeable future.
During the same time period in which Dakota Access was revived, ETP, which has tens of thousands of miles of pipeline servicing the country's most prolific oil and gas regions, found itself in another conflict involving sacred lands-albeit with a lesser known spiritual entity. Unlike with Dakota Access, however, this dispute was resolved quickly and quietly.
The New Vrindaban Holy Dham community outside Moundsville, W.Va., sued ETP in March to prevent the company from constructing part of the 713-mile, 3.25-bcfd Rover Pipeline on a 3,000-ft by 50-ft right-of-way through two of the community's properties. The 24-in., 30-in., 36-in., and 42-in. OD underground Rover line will pass through Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and Michigan and transport shale gas from the Marcellus and Utica formations.
The community asserted the pipeline's presence on its land would have violated its religious rights. Upon notification of the legal action, ETP almost immediately decided to reroute the pipeline around the complex even though it received approval from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission a month earlier to proceed with work.
Universal Society of Hinduism Pres. Rajan Zed thanked ETP in a Mar. 5 statement "for giving due regard to the feelings of the area and worldwide Hindu community and sacredness of Hindu sites." He also commended the New Vrindaban Holy Dham community for seeking a solution to preserve the sacred sites.
Ethical dilemmas
Not what you typically imagine dotting the Appalachian landscape, New Vrindaban, meaning the land of Krishna and known as "sacred village," was founded in 1968 in the rural West Virginia panhandle and was once America's largest Hare Krishna settlement. As the site of various Hindu festivals-including Diwali, Janmastami, Ramnavami, and Holi-the community hosts thousands of pilgrims and visitors each year.
The complex includes Sri Sri Radha Vrindaban Chandra Mandir, the main temple hall and main attraction; Prabhupada's Palace of Gold, which is adorned by rose gardens and more than 100 water fountains; a 50-cow barn that some consider the "longest running cow protection program in the Western World"; and a retreat center and yoga platform. A second of the seven proposed temples, Radha Gopinath Mandir, is reportedly under construction.
The complex also sits on top of a wealth of shale gas, development of which was a point of contention within the community when oil and gas companies were sniffing around the area ahead of the shale revolution. Some on the community morally objected to extracting fossil fuel from beneath the holy site as well as its contribution to a culture of excess, while others focused on the much-needed funds the gas would provide for the complex.
The community eventually signed a lease with AB Resources LLC in 2010 for production of the Marcellus gas, and another pair of companies followed a few years later targeting the Utica. But the money comes with certain stipulations for use within the community. According to a 2015 article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, for example, some of the proceeds have gone toward an eco-village.
The dilemma faced by the New Vrindaban Holy Dham community reflects one encountered by countless other communities, cities, states, and countries all over the world when it comes to extraction and consumption of hydrocarbons. It also serves as a reminder that the answers aren't always as clear cut as certain political factions on both sides of the aisle would have you believe.