Statement on MVP Southgate’s Voluntary Dismissal of NC Eminent Domain Pursuit
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 21, 2022
CONTACT:
Ridge Graham, N.C. Field Coordinator, ridge[at]appvoices.org, (828) 994-7444
On Thursday, Oct. 20, Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC, filed a voluntary dismissal of eminent domain proceedings in Alamance, Guilford and Rockingham counties, North Carolina. The pipeline company had been seeking eminent domain easements on 70 private properties to construct the proposed MVP Southgate extension to the mainline Mountain Valley Pipeline.
The proposed MVP Southgate would traverse 73 miles from the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s terminus in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, to Alamance County, North Carolina. But the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which is years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget, still has 429 water crossings to complete and is missing federal authorizations from four agencies. Recent U.S. Senate legislation that attempted to allow the pipeline to skirt environmental regulations and judicial review did not have the votes to move forward in Congress.
State regulatory authorities in North Carolina and Virginia have denied essential permits for MVP Southgate. The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality denied MVP Southgate’s Water Quality Certification under Clean Water Act Section 401 in August 2020, and reiterated that denial in 2021. Meanwhile, Virginia’s State Air Pollution Control Board denied the required air quality permit for MVP Southgate’s proposed Lambert Compressor Station in December 2021, citing the negative health impact this additional industrial facility would have on regional air quality, as well as lack of compliance with the state’s environmental justice policy.
Statement by Ridge Graham, North Carolina Field Coordinator:
“This court filing is a welcome sign for residents who have lived with the prospect of an unwanted high-pressure methane gas line encroaching on their homes and farms and damaging local waterways. No matter why the company pulled these proceedings, it is further testament to the instability of and lack of need for the MVP Southgate extension.”
