A controversial proposed natural gas pipeline in North Carolina could be unnecessary, according to an environmental assessment of the Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate project by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Running into Rockingham County, the pipeline has been the subject of controversy since it was proposed in 2018. North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality denied a water quality permit for the project in 2020, NC Newsline previously reported.
FERC staff found that the approval of an amendment to the Southgate project would not constitute a major federal action that significantly affects environmental quality, according to the document released on Friday.
But another natural gas project, the Williams Companies’ expansion of their Transco pipelines — the Southeast Supply Enhancement project — is also undergoing a permitting process at the moment. The two companies have sparred over access to the area and the need for both pipelines.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality is conducting a clean water permit review of the Transco project through Nov. 10, and FERC is expected to release an environmental assessment in early November.
FERC’s environmental analysis found that the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project could remove the need for Southgate, according to the document.
A representative for the Southgate project did not immediately respond to NC Newsline’s request for comment.
“We conclude the Transco System Alternative would be technically and economically feasible and practical,” FERC staff wrote in the analysis.
FERC staff also claimed the SSE project’s benefits outweigh those of Southgate by negating the need for a second pipeline to provide resources to customers.
“We conclude that the Transco System Alternative would provide an environmental advantage over the proposed Amendment Project because the SSE Project could supply both its own customers and Mountain Valley’s customers with a single pipeline instead of two separate and similar pipelines, thereby significantly reducing environmental effects,” the analysis read.
Environmentalists and local residents have voiced concerns over the possibility of two high-pressure, large diameter pipelines in the same area.
Crystal Cavalier-Keck, co-founder of 7 Directions of Service, an organization focused on environmental justice and indigenous rights, emphasized the pipeline’s harmful effects on people in the area.
“MVP’s proposed extension of its pipeline into North Carolina — MVP Southgate — is now within half a mile of another dangerous proposed pipeline, Transco SSEP, and the burden on our communities will only be compounded,” Cavalier-Keck said in a statement.
Opponents of Southgate argue that the company should be required to submit a new application for the project rather than an amendment, since the changes deviate significantly from the original proposal.
FERC’s environmental assessment follows MVP’s amendment request to change the route, pipe diameter, and capacity of the pipeline, extending it from Pittsylvania County, Virginia into North Carolina.
“Southgate necessitates a full application, not an insufficient amendment request and environmental assessment,” Jessica Sims, Virginia field coordinator at Appalachian Voices, said in a statement. “Southgate’s developers inflicted harm on all communities within the path of their violation-riddled Mountain Valley Pipeline mainline, and should not be granted more permission to extend that harm into North Carolina.”
Members of the public may submit comments on the environmental amendment to FERC prior to 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Nov. 3, 2025.
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