The U.S. Forest Service’s “Record of Decision” concerning the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline does not make for very exciting reading. The 29 pages are long on bureaucratic terms, dry language and lots of acronyms and abbreviations.
However, deep in the report is this key sentence: “The environmentally preferable alternative seeks to attain the widest range of beneficial uses of the environment without degradation, risks to health or safety, or other undesirable and unintended consequences and while preserving important historic, cultural, and natural aspects of our national heritage.”
Translation: Building the Mountain Valley Pipeline through 3.5 miles of the Jefferson National Forest along the West Virginia-Virginia border can be done in accordance with all environmental rules and regulations.
The Forest Service permit is a significant step toward completion of the long-delayed 303 mile pipeline that will transport natural gas from Northern West Virginia to Virginia and beyond. It clears the way for the Bureau of Land Management to issue the right of way.
Meanwhile, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection should soon issue a revised water quality authorization, which will clear the way for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to grant its permission to cross waterways along the remaining 20 uncompleted miles.
And finally, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission must issue a notification to proceed with construction to finish those final miles. That should not be a problem either, since the regulatory hurdles will have been met and U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has signed off on the project.
In a letter to FERC, Granholm took no position on the remaining agency actions, but wrote, “We submit the view that the MVP project will enhance the Nation’s critical infrastructure for energy and national security.”
Pipeline opponents and climate activists have tied up the project for years in the courts and the regulatory review process. Each time a review is completed, the opponents come up with a new argument and drag the issue back to court. There have been eight National Environmental Policy Act reviews and nine court cases in the U.S. Fourth Circuit.
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who is Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, said it is time to finish the project.
“The Forest Service has now reviewed and signed-off on this project three separate times, which should provide confidence for everyone, including the courts, that the review has been exceptionally thorough,” Manchin said.
State and federal regulations were written to minimize damage to the environment by construction projects, not to be wielded as a continuous roadblock, but that is what has gone on here for years.
Enough already. Finish the pipeline.