Featured Articles

• MVP asks 4th Circuit to assign new judges to its cases

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  Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC (MVP, LLC) has requested that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals randomly assign judges to hear future cases involving appeals over permits for the Mountain Valley Pipeline.  In a May 16 petition filed with the Fourth Circuit,

• New webinar series on pipelines launches June 1

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  The Virginia League of Conservation Voters launches Wednesday June 1 at 7 pm a series of webinars on resisting methane buildout in the state.  The first webinar will explore the energy and utility forces driving pipeline construction in Virginia and what can be done to protect the Commonwealth and climate.

• Virginia Governor Younkin announces appointments to Air Board

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  Governor Younkin announced on May 13 the following appointments to the Virginia State Air Pollution Control Board:

  • James Patrick Guy II of Saxe, General Counsel, Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative
  • Jay Holloway of Richmond, Managing Partner, Climate Law &

• MVP admits to more delays, cost overruns

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  Equitrans Midstream Corporation (ETRN), the largest owner (48%) and operator of the still uncompleted Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), announced on May 3 that the pipeline is not expected to be in operation until the “second half of 2023 at a total project cost of approximately $6.6 billion.”  The delay is the result of several federal permits being invalidated by court decisions resulting from legal challenges by conservation groups. 

• Applications for ABRA director position still being accepted

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  Applications for a new director to manage the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance are still being accepted. Persons interested in the position or those with recommendations of persons that might be considered are urged to contact ABRA Chair Allen Johnson at . 

• Opposition voiced to invoking Defense Production Act for MVP

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  Twenty-four conservation groups, including ABRA, joined by 17 Virginia state legislators, wrote U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warne on April 22 to express strong opposition to a March 10 recommendation by West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin that the Biden Administration invoke the Defense Production Act to complete the Mountain Valley Pipeline. 

• FERC approves change in stream crossings for MVP

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  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has granted a request from the Mountain Valley Pipeline to change its crossing method for some 180 bodies of water and wetlands.  FERC’s April 8 Order allows the project to bore under the bodies of water and wetlands instead of the open-cut method that the project’s original certificate approved.

• Job posting for new ABRA director position now available

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  A job description for a new director to manage the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Alliance is now available on the ABRA website.  Lewis Freeman, the current Executive Director for ABRA and a co-founder of the organization, announced on March 31 his plans to retire from the position in June.

Conservation Hub

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ABRA’s Conservation Hub program promotes responsible resource management by providing data-focused tools that enhance a project’s transparency, strengthen its accountability to regulatory agencies and facilitate public participation in its evaluation process.

• Protecting West Virginia’s Public Lands from Expanded Use of ORV/ATVs

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  Sponsor: West Virginia Highlands Conservancy
  Developer: Lobbyists & Legislators in WV

  

  Lobbyists and legislators have persistently promoted off-highway vehicle recreation on West Virginia’s public lands, Federal and state, for the last two years.

• Proposed Buckingham County Gold Mine

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  Sponsor: Friends of Buckingham
  Developer: Aston Bay

  

  Since at least 2016, Aston Bay Holdings has drilled more than 20 exploratory holes in the A-1 agricultural zone on land situated between Yogaville and the Union Hill community.

• Greenbrier Southeast

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  Sponsor: National Forest Integrity Project
  Developer: U.S.Forest Service

  

  According to the US Forest Service, the Greenbrier Southeast project seeks to improve forest stand health and composition to improve future wildlife habitat and to provide for future commercial timber sales and economic projects.

• Corridor H – Parsons to Davis

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  Sponsor: Friends of Blackwater
  Developer: WVDOT/WVDOH

  

  Corridor H of the Appalachian Development Highway System, also known as US 48, will extend 157 miles from northern Virginia to central West Virginia. It is being constructed from Interstate 79 (I-79) in Weston eastward across the Allegheny Mountains to I-81 in Strasburg,