Attorneys representing 10 local, state and regional organizations sent a letter on February 28 to the members of the Virginia State Water Control Board, urging the Board to start promptly a process to revoke the water quality certification issued for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). At the same time, the attorneys strongly urge the Board to use enforcement tools available to it to stop work on the pipeline while the revocation process goes forward. The Water Control Board is to meet March 1 at 10 am to discuss how to proceed with considering a possible revocation of the MVP certification, a decision the Board made over two months ago. A live streaming of the Water Board meeting will be available at http://www.facebook.com/vasierraclub.

The attorneys’ letter was written in response to a letter MVP sent to Department of Environmental Quality Director David Paylor on February 12, and subsequently given to Water Board members, claiming that a “cooperative effort [between MVP and DEQ] on the Project has achieved a high level of environmental protection and overall is in very good order.” The attorneys’ letter takes issue with that view:

The State Water Control Board (Board) has the authority to revoke the water quality certification for upland activities that it issued to Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC (MVP). The violations MVP has committed and the damage it has done easily meet and exceed the thresholds defined in Virginia law upon which revocation may be based.

We strongly urge the Board to order the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to schedule and issue notice for a formal hearing by a specific date not to exceed ten days from the date of your decision. The delay that has followed the Board’s order to DEQ to take those steps, issued on December 13, 2018, has already allowed harm to the environment and people to continue unabated for eleven weeks. In addition to proceeding to a revocation hearing for the water quality certification, we ask the Board to take all possible steps to stop work on this project immediately.

Organizations represented by the signers of the letters include six ABRA members:

Appalachian Mountain Advocates, Appalachian Voices, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Southern Environmental Law Center, Sierra Club and Wild Virginia, plus Preserve Floyd, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Preserve Bent Mountain, Preserve Craig and POWHR Coalition (Protect Our Water, Heritage Rights).

Virginia Water Board Urged to Revoke MVP Water Certification

ABRA CONSERVATION HUB

ABRA’s Conservation Hub program promotes responsible resource management by providing access to critical information needed for effective public involvement in environmental review and oversight.

Following the defeat of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline in 2020, ABRA initiated the Conservation Hub to support informed public engagement with the broader range of environmental issues confronting the Allegheny-Blue Ridge Mountain region. The Conservation Hub builds on the analysis and information sharing capacity achieved through ABRA’s Pipeline CSI project during the years of ACP opposition.

The Conservation Hub is based on the use of GIS mapping to provide details and context for land development projects and management practices that involve risk of environmental harm, as well as for environmental preservation and restoration initiatives. The Conservation Hub also provides access to regulatory documents and assessments related to specific projects or issues.

Multiple Conservation Hub sites, focused on individual projects or issues, have been developed collaboratively with ABRA’s partners and allies. Going forward, we invite conservation groups, individuals, and communities to provide ideas for new Hub sites and GIS mapping that can contribute to informed public engagement on behalf of environmental integrity in the Allegheny-Blue Ridge region.