CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A hotly contested natural gas pipeline on the East Coast was given the green light to go into service on Tuesday, six years after construction began at more than double its original estimated cost.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved the 300-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline project across rugged mountainsides in West Virginia and Virginia, despite longstanding objections from environmental groups, landowners and some elected officials. Project developers told regulators Monday that the pipeline was completed.
“We are pleased with the agencies’ decisions and related communications regarding the in-service authorization for the MVP project,” Natalie Cox, spokesperson for the pipeline’s leading developer, Equitrans Midstream Corp., said in a statement Tuesday evening . “Final preparations are underway to begin commercial activities.”
The $7.85 billion project has weathered weather delays, a maze of lawsuits and construction permit issues and regulatory scrutiny. It is designed to meet growing energy demands in the South and Mid-Atlantic by transporting gas from the Marcellus and Utica fields in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Congress last year ordered that all necessary permits for the pipeline be issued as part of a a bipartisan bill to raise the debt ceiling. President Joe Biden signed the bill last June. One of the leading voices for last year’s sweeping legislation was U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, an independent from West Virginia. Manchin has called the pipeline “a critical part of the energy infrastructure” that will benefit global energy supplies and U.S. energy security.
Last July, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed pipeline construction to resume after a federal appeals court blocked work despite congressional approval.
Environmental groups argued that Congress overstepped its authority and challenged the pipeline because of its potential impact on endangered species. They also say it causes climate-changing greenhouse gas pollution and contributes to erosion that will ruin soil and water quality. Part of the route includes national forest land.
“Allowing MVP to move forward despite all these grave dangers has failed the system designed to protect our communities, land and water,” Jessica Sims, Virginia field coordinator for the environmental group Appalachian Voices, said in a statement.
On Monday, the pipeline developers told FERC in a filing that multiple shippers were willing to initiate gas flow along the pipeline, “further increasing the need to seek authorization to meet market demand.”
The pipeline route was first proposed in 2015 and includes eleven West Virginia counties, six Virginia counties and three West Virginia compressor stations. The organization has been cited over the years for dozens of violations of environmental laws designed to combat erosion and sedimentation.
Frustrated residents complained that the pipeline changed pristine landscapes and clouded their clear springs, which provide drinking water. In some places along the construction route, protesters locked themselves to heavy equipment or blocked access, temporarily halting work. Heavy machinery was set on fire in a Virginia county last year.
After the pipeline’s operators initially asked FERC in April to grant final approval by May 23, a portion of the pipe burst in southwestern Virginia on May 1 during pressurized water testing to check for leaks and defects. The damaged section was replaced and operators investigated the cause of the incident.
The Montgomery County Board of Supervisors in Virginia asked FERC on May 13 to delay the pipeline’s commissioning until safety testing and remediation were completed. Mountain Valley subsequently postponed its target occupancy date to early June due to ongoing construction work.
Virginia attorney and activist Jonathan Sokolow was among critics who argued the pipeline was not ready to become operational. He said on the social platform
In a call with FERC earlier on Tuesday, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation, said it had no objection if FERC authorized the pipeline operator’s request to begin service.
“We find that Mountain Valley has adequately stabilized the areas disrupted by construction and that the recovery and stabilization of the construction area is progressing satisfactorily,” Terry Turpin, director of FERC’s Office of Energy Projects, said in a letter to Equitrans Midstream on Tuesday.
In March, Pittsburgh-based natural gas giant EQT Corp. entered into an agreement to acquire Canonsburg, Pennsylvania-based Equitrans Midstream in an all-stock transaction.