No extension

I am opposed to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granting the Mountain Valley Pipeline a second extension on this project. In 2017, the owners projected three years to complete the pipeline to carry natural gas across 303 miles from Wetzel County, West Virginia, to Pittsylvania County.

While I live nowhere near the pipeline, I live in Portsmouth and know first-hand the importance of managing stormwater. You should visit “Lake WAVY” in Portsmouth during a hard rain or try to get through the intersection of Olney Road and Boush Street in Norfolk.

In 2018, Virginia’s Department of Environment Quality and the State Water Control Board took Mountain Valley Pipeline to court for over roughly 300 violations of environmental regulations regarding erosion control and stormwater management. Yet, in 2020 Mountain Valley Pipeline requested and was granted a two-year extension. It seems the original estimate of three years to complete the project was a gross underestimate.

Today FERC is considering Mountain Valley Pipeline’s request for a second extension, not for two years, but four. At this point, Mountain Valley Pipeline has not only proven to be poor stewards of the commonwealth’s natural resources but lacks the ability to efficiently and effectively manage the project. Small communities that dot the landscape across Giles, Craig, Montgomery, Roanoke, Franklin and Pittsylvania counties will surely suffer if the same disregard for water management is allowed to continue. Therefore, I call on the FERC commissioners to deny Mountain Valley Pipeline’s request.

Nagolia Wells, Portsmouth