Public comment on the Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate extension, which was once denied a key permit in Virginia, is underway. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released public notices on the project Wednesday.
The extension would run 31 miles from the main pipeline’s terminus near Chatham, Virginia, to Rockingham County, North Carolina.
Virginia regulators killed a version of this extension in 2021 under the state’s environmental justice law, after Pittsylvania County residents expressed concern over emissions from compressor stations that would be part of the project. Those stations, powered by natural gas, would have added emissions to a community already impacted by compressor stations on the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line, or Transco.
After that decision, the General Assembly shifted regulatory power from state pollution control boards to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
A water crossing permit for the initial application was also rejected by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality in 2021.
According to the developer, updated plans for Southgate shortened the length of the project, reduced the number of water crossings, and eliminated the controversial compressor stations. The pipe, now planned to have a larger circumference, would be able to carry more gas on a daily basis.
The USACE Wilmington and Norfolk districts found that MVP’s permit request falls under President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring a national energy emergency, and may be subject to shorter public comment and agency review timelines.
There’s confusion among advocates about how Trump’s order would affect those timelines. Russell Chisholm, director of the regional nonprofit Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights, said he sees the order as attempting to reduce public input.
“It appears to me that through these executive orders — not just the one on permitting and this so-called energy emergency — the goal is to further invisibilize, erase and ignore environmental justice communities,” Chisholm said.
It appears that different USACE districts are handling timelines differently under the executive order.
However, notices for the extension posted by the Wilmington and Norfolk districts both note: “The applicant has requested that, where practical, the project review be completed under standard permitting procedures.”
The posted public comment period is 30 days — twice as long as the 15 days required under law and regulation.
The proposed path of the extension is also very similar to another proposal: the Transco-operated Southeast Supply Enhancement Project. Advocates are concerned about the environmental impacts and engineering risks of co-locating the two pipelines.
The Corps did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.
Virginia DEQ hasn’t announced a public comment period for state water permits yet, but an announcement is expected soon. MVP Southgate already has a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, but is seeking an amendment to that certificate given the changes to its route and design.
USACE’s public comment period is open until May 30.
