After Tropical Storm Chantal: Building Resilience, Not More Pipelines
07/18/25, Aidan Loretz
In the past week, communities all along the Haw River came together to provide mutual care/relief/aid in the wake of Tropical Storm Chantal. This week, in our updates on the fight to keep new pipelines out of our community, I believe it’s important to recognize how projects like the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SSEP) exacerbate the impacts of storms like Chantal.
In the effort to showcase our solidarity across the Haw community, I want to start by sharing the words of one of the Haw River’s great caretakers, Dr. Crystal A. Cavalier-Keck of 7 Directions of Service. Dr. Cavalier-Keck is an Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation citizen and a passionate advocate for environmental justice and Indigenous rights. She resides in Mebane, North Carolina, where they had a Code Red drinking water situation after the Graham-Mebane Water Treatment Plant suffered immense damage during Tropical Storm Chantal. Dr. Cavalier-Keck comments in her 7 Directions newsletter:
“Tropical Storm Chantal’s flash flooding left a wake of destruction across our communities last week, as our beloved Haw and Eno Rivers inundated homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure with water and toxic muck. The rain is not letting up. With guts to government funding and capacity, networks of mutual aid and grassroots-driven recovery are at the forefront, connecting those in need with resources and volunteers. It is undeniable that climate-fueled disasters are on the rise, hand-in-hand with fascist policies that leave us all extremely vulnerable. What will make our survival possible, and even beautiful, begins with the relationships we build today– the relationships with ourselves, our neighbors, Water, and the land we call home. We must fill our cups. We must keep defending and advocating for the world our hearts desire.” - Dr. Crystal A. Cavalier-Keck
Organizations like Haw River Assembly and 7 Directions of Service are already on the frontlines providing the community education and aid needed before, during, and after environmental crises like Tropical Storm Chantal. We know that these storms will only get increasingly detrimental as climate change worsens. Recent environmental reports show that buried infrastructures, specifically pipelines, have a particular susceptibility to “damage from flooding, storm surges, and hurricanes [that pose] significant challenges”. With above-ground structures, the effects and damages of flooding are easily noticeable, but buried infrastructures, being out of sight, are not quickly or easily observable. There is currently a lack of effective methodology and practice to properly address these damages, especially in vulnerable areas that rely on other buried infrastructure, like tunnels and wells.
In communities already facing intense destruction and harm, are additional fracked-methane-gas pipelines truly the best solution for ourselves and future generations? A technology that has been proven to cause damaging leaks every 40 hours in our country since we began using it? The destruction currently caused by fracked-gas projects will get worse. Adding more to the mix, like the SSEP and Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), will only increase the harm we are experiencing.
How can you help right now? Visit our friends at Appalachian Voices for detailed steps on how to tell the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Do not grant SSEP’s permit! And please, reach out to me for more ways to get involved. We Will Win.
As always, this is Aidan wishing community care, light, and love.
Take care of yourselves and each other,
~ Aidan Loretz (they/them, she/her)