Virginia water board abandons pursuit of Mountain Valley Pipeline permit revocation
Today, the Virginia State Water Control Board unanimously voted to reverse course in pursuing revocation of Mountain Valley Pipeline’s Clean Water Act § 401 certification. In December, 2018, the board voted 4-3 to consider revoking the project’s certification, but today, after nearly four hours of deliberation with a representative of the Attorney General’s office, the seven-member citizen board emerged from behind closed doors and reversed its previous decision. While the board expressed concerns that revoking the certification would erode the state’s ability to control pollution in Virginia waters, the fact is that revoking the certification would effectively stop the project.
This decision follows months of construction along the pipeline route that has produced more than 500 reported violations of the permit’s conditions and Virginia’s water pollution laws. Over 300 of these violations are cited in an enforcement suit filed by Attorney General Mark Herring in late 2018.
Appalachian Voices’ Virginia Program Manager Peter Anderson:
“Governor Northam’s Administration has stacked the deck for private companies at the expense of Virginia’s communities and our environment, foisting this ineffective permit on the public through a flawed process and without transparency.
It is time for Attorney General Mark Herring to step up and demand an order stopping work on MVP while his enforcement case is pending.”
Contact: Peter Anderson, peter@appvoices.org, 434-249-6446
