ROANOKE, Va. –Virginia environmental regulators have approved a key step forward for the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline.
The state Department of Environmental Quality announced late Monday that it has approved erosion, sediment and storm water control plans for the natural gas pipeline.
So far, only trees have been cut to clear the way for the 303-mile buried pipeline from West Virginia through southwest Virginia. Now “land disturbing activities” are approved, meaning Mountain Valley can begin full-scale construction.
Pipeline opponents say digging trenches along steep mountain slopes will contaminate pristine streams and infiltrate private wells and public water supplies.
The conservation director for the environmental group Wild Virginia told The Roanoke Times that regulators have “betrayed the public” and “doomed our streams, wetlands and groundwater to dire threats and certain damages.”
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