A controversial proposed natural gas pipeline in North Carolina has passed the latest hurdle to move forward, receiving approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
FERC announced Thursday it has approved an amendment to change the route, pipe diameter and gas-carrying capacity for the Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate project. This means Southgate would extend the pipeline from Pittsylvania County, Virginia into Rockingham County, North Carolina.
Opponents to Southgate say the project needed a new application, not an amendment, because the pipeline’s proposed route, size and impact have changed drastically since FERC issued the original Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity in 2020.
Jessica Sims, Virginia field coordinator at Appalachian Voices, said Southgate will harm Virginia and North Carolina waterways and communities.
“The project necessitated, at the very least, an environmental impact statement. Ideally, this totally revamped project should require a new application to fully consider its impacts,” Sims said. “FERC required neither and has failed impacted communities in its Southgate decision.”
Southgate has been a subject of debate since it was proposed in 2018. North Carolina’s DEQ denied a water quality permit for the project in 2020, NC Newsline previously reported.
The controversy has continued in recent months.
Earlier this year, environmental advocates mounted a challenge to the methane gas pipeline. In October, a FERC analysis found the project potentially redundant.
“Right now, people want to see lower electric bills and know their drinking water is safe,” said Steph Gans, assistant director at Clean Water for North Carolina. “This decision does the opposite; it will raise bills and pollute water.”
These concerns come about as a rival pipeline undergoes a permitting process at the same time. The Williams Companies expansion of their Transco pipelines, called the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project, expects to receive a decision from FERC on a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity in early February.
FERC’s October analysis said the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project could eliminate needs for Southgate, NC Newsline previously reported.
“We conclude the Transco System Alternative would be technically and economically feasible and practical,” FERC staff wrote in the document.
In the meantime, the North Carolina DEQ’s Division of Air Quality issued permit modifications for two compressor stations associated with the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project on Thursday.
Transco plans to upgrade two existing compressor stations along the pipeline — one in Mooresville and one in Lexington.
“The leading preference is that neither [pipeline is] built because of the level of emissions that they would bring, and that’s locking us into decades more of fossil fuel infrastructure,” Sims told NC Newsline. “Neither project serves the communities through which it passes.”
Shawn Day, a spokesperson for MVP Southgate, said the amended project is necessary to meet public demand for natural gas and its construction and operation will not have a significant environmental impact.
He pointed out that in the October environmental assessment, FERC’s “staff analysis here does not consider non-environmental aspects of the project objectives, such as supply diversity and other market issues, which could affect the ultimate viability of the system alternative.”
Representatives for FERC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“We look forward to securing all necessary authorizations to build this important project, to provide homes and businesses across North Carolina with the affordable, reliable and lower-carbon energy needed to power modern life,” Day wrote in an email.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality will issue its decision on a clean water permit within the next two months, followed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to the amendment.
Hence then, the article about ferc clears path for revised mvp southgate natural gas project was published today ( ) and is available on NC news line ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( FERC clears path for revised MVP Southgate natural gas project )
Also on site :