FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 17, 2025
CONTACT
Dan Radmacher, Media Specialist, (276) 289-1018, dan@appvoices.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission posted Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC’s Joint Permit Application for its proposed methane gas pipeline “Southgate.” The application notes that it has also been submitted to other federal and state agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Wilmington and Norfolk Districts, and the Virginia and North Carolina Departments of Environmental Quality. As part of the review process, agencies will determine if the application’s content is complete, or missing necessary information.
The Southgate pipeline is proposed for Pittsylvania County, Virginia, and Rockingham, North Carolina, and is also currently undergoing an amendment review process by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The developers had recently altered their plans for Southgate, changing the route, length and pipe diameter. Southgate would extend the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline, and has faced significant opposition since it was proposed in 2018.
The Southgate project has a route similar to the proposed Southeast Supply Enhancement Project from Williams Companies’ expansion of their network of Transco pipelines. The co-location of two high-pressure, large diameter pipelines is of significant concern for local residents in the impacted counties.
The application process for Southgate will include public notices from the Virginia and North Carolina Departments of Environmental Quality, followed by public comment periods.
“The developers of the violation-riddled Mountain Valley Pipeline have submitted an application for the resurrected Southgate pipeline — an extension that remains unnecessary,” said Jessica Sims, Virginia Field Coordinator at Appalachian Voices. “We’ve seen the years of harm that Southgate’s developers inflicted with their Mountain Valley Pipeline, and that history should not be repeated — agencies should deny this application.”
“Mountain Valley Pipeline has been a terrible neighbor wherever they go in Virginia,” said Victoria Higgins, Virginia Director at Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “After literally hundreds of violations, including new violations nearly every quarter for the existing mainline, Virginia’s state agencies should look skeptically upon any promises from the Southgate developers.”
“All the state and federal regulators who are supposed to protect our natural treasures and our communities have failed us in the past, by allowing the Mountain Valley Pipeline to wreak havoc across parts of Virginia,” said David Sligh, Conservation Director at Wild Virginia. “With an administration in Washington that is hostile to environmental laws that would limit their fossil fuel patrons from profiting at our expense, we will insist even more forcefully that the Virginia DEQ step up and do its duty. MVP Southgate cannot be built in accordance with the Clean Water Act and state law and must be rejected.”
“MVP has inflicted ten years of heartache on our communities along the mainline route,” said Russell Chisholm, Managing Director of the POWHR Coalition. “Every resident along the amended Southgate route should take a hard look at MVP’s track record. Every agency tasked with reviewing new permits should carefully compare MVP’s assertions against the realities on the ground before clearing a new path for destruction.”
“As mothers and caregivers, we are deeply alarmed by MVP’s attempt to extend their dangerous pipeline through our communities,” said Melissa Thomas, Moms vs. Methane Campaigner, Mothers Out Front. “We’ve already seen the devastating environmental damage caused by the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Every water crossing, cleared forest and disrupted ecosystem threatens our children’s future. Mothers Out Front stands with impacted communities in opposing this unnecessary fossil fuel project that puts corporate profits ahead of our families’ health, safety and climate stability. MVP’s troubling track record must be recognized, and this application must be rejected by state and federal agencies.”
“Communities in Virginia and North Carolina have been clear for years — they do not want this risky, unnecessary pipeline cutting through their land and waterways,” said Caroline Hansley, Campaign Organizing Strategist at Sierra Club. “The Southgate extension poses serious threats to clean water, public safety, and the health of ecosystems already under pressure from the climate crisis. It’s unacceptable for MVP to try to revive the extension with a dramatically altered project and expect agencies to rubber-stamp their plans. Federal and state regulators must hold the line and prioritize the people, not fossil fuel profits.”
