Twenty conservation organizations (including ABRA and several of its members), urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on September 13 to require a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) regarding the project’s application for an amendment to its FERC certificate. The groups’ filing – submitted jointly by Appalachian Mountain Advocates, Southern Environmental Law Center and Natural Resources Defense Council – was in response to FERC’s solicitation on August 13 of comments on the Environmental Assessment (EA) published by the agency. The groups’ comments explained that the EA falls short of what is required by the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA):

“The supplemental NEPA document for this project must be a Supplemental Environmental impact Statement, rather than an EA. Moreover, the EA’s consideration of the impacts of open-cut ditch crossings on aquatic resources and its alternatives analysis are fatally deficient, and the EA fails to sufficiently examine geological conditions and the risk of borehole collapse, the climate impacts of the project, the cumulative effects of connected actions related to the MVP, and the impacts on special wetland resources like those on Bent Mountain in Virginia”

For a copy of the comments, click here.

FERC urged to require a Supplemental EIS for the MVP

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.