The Mountain Valley Pipeline project addresses latest round of challenges
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced recently that it is endorsing the changes West Virginia made to its Clean Water Act water-quality certification for an Army Corps of Engineers general permit allowing construction of the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline through the state, clearing the way for the Corps to reissue the permit after a federal appeals court vacated it last year.
The 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline project—along with a proposed 73-mile extension—would transport Appalachia Basinproduced gas from the Marcellus and Utica shales. It would go to Virginia, then to markets in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Construction began in the spring of 2018 and is now approximately 90 percent complete. However, completion has been slowed by a variety of legal obstacles.
In 2018, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the general permit for stream and wetlands crossings for MVP, finding the Corps lacked the authority to substitute its own conditions for those imposed by the state. While the Corps had found the dry cut crossing method to be more environmentally protective, environmentalists argued that the approach would violate state requirements that individual stream crossings be completed within a 72-hour time frame. West Virginia proposed to update several of its own conditions, including lifting the 72-hour requirement when the dry ditch method is used; allowing pipelines 36 inches in diameter to be covered by the general permit; and allowing temporary structures that could impede fish movement.
The EPA reviewed those changes and found each to be consistent with Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. It also found that related discharges are unlikely to affect water quality in any other state. However, the agency placed the final determination in the hands of the state.
MVP spokeswoman Natalie Cox said the project team is confident that the few remaining issues will be resolved in time for MVP to meet its in-service target of mid-2020. Concurrent with the EPA process, the Corps has been reviewing West Virginia’s modifications and has conducted a public comment process. “MVP anticipates that [the Corps] will then be in a position to review and approve MVP’s Nationwide Permit 12, at which time work within the limits of streams and water bodies will proceed,” Cox said.