Pipeline plans threaten crystal clear southern rivers

Usually, you would see Keith and Sue Havens floating on the water rather than walking through it.  

“We’re a canoeing family,” Keith said. “We were raised on the rivers.” 

But on this autumn day, a persistent drought has forced the couple to keep their canoes on dry land. So the couple waded through the calf-deep water near their East Tennessee home instead. 

The water is what brought Keith and Sue Havens to this part of Tennessee nearly 30 years ago. Their house sits on the edge of White Creek, which flows into Clear Creek and then the Obed River. The area is known for its crystal clear waters, stunning beauty, famous rock climbing routes, and an abundance of whitewater rapids. 

“When the rains are good there are over 20 whitewater rivers within a couple hours,” Sue said.  

“The area is just incredibly scenic and beautiful, and it has a great deal to offer people who are into recreation and nature,” Keith added. 

While wading through the chilly water, the Havenses stop to point out what Sue calls “an ugly gash in the scenery.” 

On both sides of the creek, the yellow and red forest give way to barren clear cuts.  

We’ve been in all this beauty and quiet nature, and then you come here, and you have this big clear cut on both sides.

The clearcut marks the path of an existing methane gas pipeline — and it’s next to the planned route of another, bigger pipeline: the Tennessee Valley Authority’s proposed Ridgeline Pipeline. The project would be built, owned, and operated by East Tennessee Natural Gas, a subsidiary of fossil fuel giant Enbridge, and would carry methane gas to TVA’s proposed Kingston Gas Plant. The high-pressure gas pipeline’s route crosses White Creek just downstream from the Havens’ home.  

“This place is just amazing. But if you have a gas line cutting across, that changes everything,” Sue warned.  

“The consequences can be high” 

White Creek isn’t the only waterway threatened by the Ridgeline Pipeline. The pipeline would cross hundreds of creeks, streams, and rivers throughout its 122-mile route across Middle and East Tennessee.  

Each crossing poses a significant risk of long-term damage to the waterway, as well as the people and wildlife that depend on it. Building pipelines through rivers and streams risks huge amounts of dirt and sediment being released downstream, devastating ecosystems and choking out wildlife. Construction also includes clearcutting strips of forested land where the pipeline will be placed or buried.   

At some crossings Enbridge could use explosives to blast waterways before building the pipeline, an approach that does long-lasting harm to the health of the waterway. 

“With the number of crossings, there’s a lot of opportunities for mistakes,” Keith said. “And the consequences can be high.” 

Enbridge has a history of making mistakes. The company has racked up hundreds of millions of dollars in fines for environmental and pipeline safety violations. Enbridge even faced a criminal charge after damaging waterways during construction of a pipeline in Minnesota. Just five years ago, an Enbridge pipeline exploded in Danville, Kentucky—about 100 miles north of the Havens’ home—killing one person and injuring six others.  

“I don’t know that Enbridge, in my mind, has a very good reputation for safety,” Sue noted.  

Imperiling the Obed 

In 1976, Congress created the Obed Wild and Scenic River system, preserving the Obed and its largest tributary, Clear Creek. The bill aimed to protect the “primitive nature of the area,” and nearly 50 years later, it remains Tennessee’s only Wild and Scenic River system.  

But the Ridgeline Pipeline puts that “primitive nature” at risk. The pipeline’s planned White Creek crossing is just a few miles upstream from the Wild and Scenic River system, and it crosses eighteen other direct tributaries of the Obed River along its route. Keith, Sue, and other locals worry about the long-lasting impact pipeline construction would have on the pristine waterways, which are some of the main drivers of local economies.  

“When the water is up, there’s a steady stream of cars with boats. With climbers from all over coming in the spring and fall, it’s always busy,” Sue said. “That brings dollars to the local economy here and that’s important.” 

“The pipeline could be devastating for the Obed Wild and Scenic River system.” Keith added. 

Recently, SELC and a coalition of conservation groups sent a letter to the National Park Service, warning the agency about the threat the Ridgeline Expansion Pipeline poses to the Obed Wild and Scenic River. 

Backroom contracts and premature pipeline deals 

The Ridgeline Pipeline’s sole purpose is to supply methane gas to the proposed Kingston Gas Plant — a multi-billion-dollar project that would pollute nearby communities, worsen climate change, and increase power bills for families throughout the region.  

Last month SELC, on behalf of Appalachian Voices, the Center for Biological Diversity, and Sierra Club, sued TVA over its Kingston gas plans, saying the federal utility violated federal law by failing to consider cleaner and more cost-effective power options before deciding to build a new polluting methane gas plant. TVA signed a contract with Enbridge more than two years before it published a decision on the project. By the time TVA had finalized its decision in April, the utility and the pipeline company had already spent at least $275 million on the Kingston project. 

“As a federal utility, TVA is required to look before it leaps by studying a project’s impacts and alternatives before making a decision. But here, TVA rushed backwards, spending millions first and doing analysis later,” SELC staff attorney Trey Bussey said. “TVA’s premature backroom deals with fossil fuel companies caused the utility to unlawfully put a thumb on the scale in favor of gas while ignoring cleaner, more cost-effective, and more climate-friendly alternatives.” 

TVA also used a flawed financial analysis, relied on outdated data, and ignored clean energy incentives recently passed by Congress when making its Kingston decision. A recent study showed that replacing the aging Kingston coal plant with a gas plant, as TVA is proposing, could end up costing $1 billion more than replacing it with clean energy technology. 

TVA moving backwards  

The Ridgeline Pipeline and Kingston Gas Plant are both pieces of TVA’s huge fossil fuel expansion. In all, the federal utility has proposed nine new gas plants and more than 150 miles of new gas pipelines. These new plants and pipelines will also release millions of tons of climate pollution, worsening the harmful impacts of climate change. People in the Tennessee Valley are already feeling those effects through stronger storms, increasing temperatures, and longer droughts—like the one that left water levels in White Creek low.  

It’s not just reckless—it’s expensive. TVA’s fossil fuel spending spree will cost nearly $9 billion, and families throughout the Tennessee Valley will be forced to foot the bill. TVA has already raised rates twice in the last 18 months, and those increases were driven by the utility’s massive methane gas expansion. Those rate hikes mean higher monthly power bills.  

Instead, TVA should be investing in cheaper and cleaner power options, like solar power, battery storage, and energy efficiency programs. These technologies are reliable and are proven to save money.  

“Continuing to focus on fossil fuels as our energy is backwards thinking,” Keith said.  

“You don’t get it back.” 

As Keith and Sue Havens finish their walk through White Creek, they easily point out fish and other critters moving through the remarkably clear water. They point out that because of the exceptionally clean water, the latest recreational activity to become popular in the Obed River area is freshwater snorkeling. 

“It’s very beautiful, you can see all the different colored stones in the bed, you can see fish nests, where they gathered all the pebbles together,” Sue said.   

But they worry the beauty, the wildlife, the recreation opportunities, and the water their community relies on are all at risk if the Ridgeline Pipeline gets built.  

“To ruin something so beautiful and so important, you don’t get it back the way it was.”