FERC allows work to resume on Mountain Valley Pipeline, two commissioners voice concerns about decis

[TexasTowelie]

FERC allows work to resume on Mountain Valley Pipeline, two commissioners voice concerns about decision


The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has allowed work to resume on nearly the entire length of the 300-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline, a decision that prompted two sitting FERC commissioners to voice “significant concerns” about allowing construction “while required right-of-way and temporary use permits remain outstanding.”

The natural gas pipeline was being built between Wetzel County, W.Va., and Pittsylvania County before a federal court invalidated key approvals for the project and FERC ordered a halt to construction.

The project still does not have those approvals, but FERC has determined that “the protection of the environment along the project’s right-of-way is best served” by allow work to resume. The decision was preceded by an analysis sent last by the Bureau of Land Management to FERC of other pipeline route alternatives “that offer collocation opportunities across federal lands.”

Since the bureau determined “that the route previously approved by all federal agencies provides the greatest level of
collocation for an alternative crossing that is also practical, the specific route of the project no longer seems in question,” FERC wrote.

Read more: https://www.virginiamercury.com/2018/08/29/ferc-allows-work-to-resume-on-mountain-valley-pipeline-two-commissioners-voice-concerns-about-decision/