After years of delays from dozens of environmental violations and a slew of court fights, Mountain Valley Pipeline construction resumed earlier this month in Virginia, a state official said.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline, a controversial project that would transport Appalachian shale gas about 300 miles from West Virginia to Virginia, resumed construction on Aug. 4, following a Supreme Court ruling that greenlit the remaining work, Matthew Stafford, a manager with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality said at a recent public meeting.
Pipeline construction is expected to be completed by the end of the year, Natalie Cox, a pipeline spokeswoman, said in a statement to The Washington Post.
“The MVP project has been subject to unprecedented scrutiny, and we are proud of the diligent work that crews, inspectors and regulators have performed to ensure this project raises the bar for the safe construction of linear energy infrastructure,” Cox said in a statement.
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Environmental groups and climate advocates, including some in communities along the pipeline route, have fought the existence of this Mid-Atlantic natural gas pipeline for years. They argue the construction would cause irreversible damage to their ancestral homelands and endanger fragile rivers, clean water and rolling hills.
Opponents previously found some success at blocking construction at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond. But as part of the debt ceiling deal, President Biden and House Republicans agreed to expedite permitting for the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Then, in late July, the Supreme Court agreed Congress approved the completion of the pipeline and lifted a lower court’s decision to block the remaining construction.
Stafford presented the State Water Control Board on Wednesday with an updated map from the Mountain Valley Pipeline showing the remaining construction work in Virginia. Since construction resumed, crews have completed eight stream or wetland crossings, including in Montgomery County, Stafford said. Overall, tree felling is 100 percent complete, clearing is nearly 91 percent, welding is nearly 83 percent and final restoration is only 19 percent complete, according to the map presented at the meeting.
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The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality received one complaint about the project since the last State Water Control meeting earlier this summer, Stafford said. However, he said, inspectors did not find any issues.
David Sligh, the conservation director at Wild Virginia, an advocacy group that has been involved in the pipeline litigation, alleged that there have been issues with water quality in Flatwoods Branch, which he described as a Montgomery County tributary to the North Fork Roanoke River. That river, he said, is home to the endangered Roanoke logperch fish. Despite the board restricting comments about the pipeline, Sligh aired his concerns.
He referenced a July 14 report from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality that he described as showing a tributary to Flatwoods Branch had “significant sedimentation.” The report notes there is “sediment impacting stream” and orders it to be corrected.
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“There have been some severe problems there on a number of occasions over a span of years,” he said, later adding: “We’re looking at a great deal of construction coming up here in the next six months. And we can add important information that you need to know and we’re glad to do that.”
He also asked the board not to restrict public comment.
In response to Sligh’s claims, Cox, the pipeline spokeswoman, directed The Post to a March filing to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by the pipeline company, which accused Wild Virginia of using “errors and falsehoods” to “delay and obstruct” the project.
“They provide no evidence that any of the waters in these watersheds are presently subject to ongoing adverse effects or impairments as a result,” the filing reads, referring to Wild Virginia’s characterization of six watersheds, including Flatwoods Branch.
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