The Virginia State Water Control Board voted 3-2 on December 14 to approve a water quality certificate for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). Two members were not present. The project still needs a water certificate from West Virginia, which is expected to act by December 31, and a stream crossing permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Following the vote, a spokesperson for the MVP issued a statement that the project was “94% built.”
David Sligh, Conservation Director for Wild Virginia, stated:
“This is a heartbreaking decision. Yet another public agency that’s supposed to protect us and our natural treasures has failed to live up to the standards we have a right to expect. No single project in Virginia in decades has presented a threat to our precious resources even close to the scope and scale of those MVP poses. The pipeline builders have already harmed hundreds of waterbodies and residents along its destructive path. The Board could have, and should have, acted to prevent further destruction.”
It is anticipated that the Water Board action will soon be appealed to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.