CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Now that natural gas is flowing through the Mountain Valley Pipeline, it’s believed the future is much brighter for West Virginia gas producers.
Dave Callahan, president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, said in a recent appearance on MetroNews Talkline the pipeline going into service helped remove a huge obstacle for those wishing to get products to the market.
“Taking one of the question marks off the table, the lack of pipeline capacity, is big. Getting that one off the table is certainly important. Markets matter, prices matter, end use customers are important, but those end use customers now know they have a means of receiving that natural gas and more of it,” Callahan said.
The pipeline’s completion was cemented with the approval from federal regulators which allowed the gas to begin flowing across much of West Virginia to east coast customers in neighboring Virginia.
The pipeline took 9 years to build and faced one regulatory hurdle after another from environmental opponents. Although the line is now operational, those opponents aren’t going away.
“This pipeline crossed thousands of rivers and streams, damaging our water resources in the process. The project is far from final restoration when hillsides continue to slip, people lack clean well water, agricultural lands are damaged and streams are clogged with sediment,” said Autumn Crowe, interim executive director of West Virginia Rivers Coalition in a recent interview with our Brad McElhinny.
But on Talkline, Callahan defended the product and the delivery amid continued scrutiny over climate change.
“Natural gas is the key solution to addressing climate change,” he said.
He pointed toward two reasons as proof of his claim. He said the workers who built the pipeline were meticulous in detail to insure minimal gas escapes. He said it’s also a testament to the technology being put to work to monitor pipeline emissions and create programs which insures leaks don’t occur.
Environmental opponents were not able to stop the construction of the line, but they were able to delay its completion for years and more than double the cost. U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, who helped pave the way for the pipeline’s completion, said it shouldn’t be that way.
“There’s always going to be someone protesting. They have a right to be heard and they have a right to be sure we’ve answered every question, but enough is enough. Six years of litigation should have been six months of litigation,” Manchin said.
He hoped to make changes in the regulatory process before leaving office to address those kinds of obstacles to necessary infrastructure projects in the future.
“There’s a demand for that product in the southeast. They’re desperate for the natural gas which we have an abundance in West Virginia. For the sake of our nation and the defense of our nation because a lot of that gas will be used in the military bases we have in North Carolina and South Carolina,” he said.
Callahan said although the pipeline is a key piece of the infrastructure there are more needs to expand for West Virginia gas to flow to power the east coast and beyond as the infrastructure grows.
“We have one main port at Cove Point in Maryland, but we certainly need more. There’s a need for more infrastructure whether it’s more pipelines just like MVP or export facilities to insure our allies are safe and secure,” he said.
But according to Callahan, the MVP was the first and biggest hurdle to cross and they are there.
“It checks a lot of boxes. When fully operational, two Billion cubic feet of gas will be flowing out of the basin. This is the biggest basin in the nation and we just need the means to get that product to where it’s needed,” he said. “When they get that natural gas or a power plant gets that natural gas or a homeowner receives that natural gas, they’re getting the cleanest natural gas in the country if not the world.