By SARAH RICHARDSON
Mountain Messenger
(Photo by Jan Hall, MVP Rt. 19 – Herold Road, Braxton Co.)
LEWISBURG, W.Va. — Last week, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered a halt on the building of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) after construction approvals were overturned.
The pipeline would carry natural gas through West Virginia and Virginia, including through areas as close as Monroe County. The Notification of Stop Work Order was passed after a panel of judges in an appeals court reviewed permits that allowed the pipeline to cross a section of the Jefferson National Forest (JNF). The decision effectively reversed approvals that were previously granted for an approximately three-mile long section of pipeline construction in the forest.
After the construction hold was placed on the section, FERC determined that the remaining areas of the pipeline be put on hold, as well. A letter from Terry Turpin, director of the Office of Energy Projects with FERC states, “The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit issued an order vacating decisions made by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and by the Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service (USFS) authorizing the construction of the MVP project across federal lands… MVP has not obtained the rights-of-way and temporary use permits from the federal government needed for the project to cross federally owned lands.”
Read the entire article: https://mountainmessenger.com/ferc-orders-halt-on-mvp-construction-mvp-responds/
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