By Mike Tony, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The long-delayed Mountain Valley Pipeline needs water crossing permit approval if it is to ever be completed.
The time is now to weigh in on whether the project should get it.
Public comments are due Friday to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC’s proposal to discharge dredged and/or fill material into wetlands and other waters, while West Virginia environmental regulators are taking comments ahead of a virtual public hearing set for June 22 on whether they should approve a water permit for the project.
Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC, the joint venture that owns the pipeline, still has applications pending with West Virginia and Virginia state environmental regulators for about 300 water crossings while it seeks approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to tunnel under 120 additional waterbodies.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection last month asked for an additional 90 days beyond the 120 days the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave the agency to review Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC’s water permit request. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality in March requested an additional year to review the pipeline permit application…