By Charles Young, Exponent Telegram
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Sierra Club has filed a lawsuit against the West Virginia Department of Environmental Projection, objecting to the DEP’s recent approval of a key water permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline project.
The suit — filed by lawyers from Appalachian Mountain Advocates on behalf of the Sierra Club and a coalition of other environmental groups — argues the DEP’s approval violates the Clean Water Act.
“MVP has repeatedly violated environmental safeguards, clean water protections and plain common sense in their construction of this fracked gas pipeline,” Sierra Club Senior Organizer Caroline Hansley said.
The DEP approved the water protection individual permit Dec. 30, saying about 20,000 feet of streams and about 12 acres of wetlands will be temporarily impacted during the pipeline’s construction.
But the DEP determined the pipeline complied with state water quality guidelines. …
