State environmental officials have approved a water quality permit for Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) Southgate.
The proposed project would build a 31-mile, 30-inch diameter natural gas pipeline starting near Chatham, Virginia and going into Rockingham County in North Carolina.
In a press release Thursday, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) said officials have determined the project will meet state water quality standards.
"MVP has designed the proposed project such that it minimizes impacts to surface waters and wetlands to a practical extent," said regional supervisor Michael Hall in a hearing officer's report.
Environmental groups were quick to condemn the decision. Earlier this year, over 2,400 public comments were submitted, with the majority of comments asking state officials to deny the permit.
“North Carolinians have made it clear that we do not want MVP Southgate,” said Chris Herndon, director of North Carolina Sierra Club. “And yet ... NCDEQ has approved this dangerous, polluting pipeline that will ... threaten the health of our waterways and communities."
The project still needs other permits from federal agencies and the state of Virginia before construction can begin.
Background of MVP Southgate
MVP Southgate was first proposed in 2018. In 2020, state environmental officials denied this same permit.
"Due to uncertainty surrounding the completion of the MVP mainline project, (officials have) determined that work on the Southgate extension could lead to unnecessary water quality impacts and disturbance of the environment in North Carolina," DEQ said in a press release in August 2020.
After this denial, MVP shortened the route of the pipeline from 75.1 miles to 31.3 miles — 5.2 of which are in North Carolina. The diameter of the pipeline will also be wider. Previously, the diameter was proposed to be 16 to 24 inches; now it's proposed to be 30 inches.
Southgate is an extension of MVP’s mainline, which travels from West Virginia to Virginia and entered into service in June 2024. Since 2018, MVP has been fined approximately $2.9 million in both states, namely for water quality violations.
In the hearing officer's report, Hall argued now that MVP mainline is complete, there's a clearer path forward for Southgate.
"The circumstances are now different. The level of uncertainty that prompted the earlier denial is no longer present," said Hall. "The previous denial of the MVP Southgate project was based on the fact that the project was dependent upon the completion of the MVP mainline. (At the time), the uncertainty of the MVP mainline project posed a critical risk to the purpose of the MVP Southgate project."
Details of permit
Southgate will temporarily impact 720 linear feet of streams and three acres of wetlands during construction. The project will permanently impact three acres of forested wetlands and 52 linear feet of streams.
State environmental officials will require MVP Southgate to:
- Provide an environmental inspector during all in stream activities
- Restore areas temporarily impacted during construction. Replant these areas with native plants.
- Narrow the construction corridor across wetlands and streams
- Identify all private wells that will be disturbed by construction. Provide pre and post construction well testing by request for all private wells within 150 feet of construction
Additionally, to avoid impacts to sensitive aquatic species, MVP must use “trenchless” water crossing techniques in areas where those species have been identified. Trenchless water crossing techniques include methods like horizontal directional drilling or micro-tunneling.
Opposition to Southgate
Opponents of MVP Southgate, and other proposed natural gas projects, point to the impact of natural gas on the climate. Natural gas is mostly comprised of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate warming.
The Moriah Energy Center is a proposed liquified natural gas facility in Person County operated by Enbridge Gas, which is also operating T-15. Finally, the Marshall gas plant and the Hyco Lake gas plants are facilities run by Duke Energy to generate electricity for its customers.
There are also safety and health worries for the residents of Rockingham County. MVP Southgate is just one of three pipelines set to cross the rural area. The other two are Transco's Southeast Supply Enhancement Project and Enbridge's T-15 Reliability Project.
"It's really important to look at the cumulative impacts of three large diameter, high pressure pipelines in the same rural county," said Juhi Modi, field coordinator at Appalachian Voices. "The safety element, I think, is a big consideration."
Finally, many public comments raised concerns about how the project will impact recreational activities in surrounding areas, and how the project will be constructed in vulnerable communities.
In response, the hearing officer's report said while DEQ understands the concerns expressed, many public comments raised considerations outside the evaluation criteria established in state law for the review of this water quality permit.
