Transco submits application for Southeast Supply Enhancement Project pipeline

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 10, 2025

CONTACT
Molly Moore, molly@appvoices.org, (828) 278-4076

HAMPTON, Va. — On Friday, June 6, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission posted Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company, LLC’s Joint Permit Application for its proposed methane gas pipeline “Southeast Supply Enhancement Project.” 

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 first determine if the application’s content is complete, or missing necessary information. The Joint Permit Application is for the review of the project’s impacts to rivers, streams, and wetlands from instream construction, and initiates federal and state permitting processes under the Clean Water Act and state water and wetlands laws. 

The massive SSEP pipeline expansion is proposed between Pittsylvania County, Virginia, and Coosa County, Alabama. It includes 26.4 miles of new pipe in Pittsylvania County and 28.4 miles of new pipe in Rockingham, Guilford, Forsyth, and Davidson counties, North Carolina. Additionally, the proposal calls for expanding emissions-producing gas-fired compressor units in Iredell and Davidson counties, North Carolina and compressor station updates in Anderson County, South Carolina, Walton and Henry counties in Georgia and Coosa County, Alabama.

Most of the SSEP’s new pipe would be laid near or next to existing Transco pipelines, and parts of the Project cover a route similar to the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate extension. The co-location of multiple high-pressure, large-diameter pipelines is of significant concern for local residents in the impacted counties.

The application process for SSEP will include public notices from the Virginia and North Carolina Departments of Environmental Quality, and the Army Corps Wilmington and Norfolk Districts, followed by public comment periods.

“The SSEP’s proposed crossings of streams and wetlands pose substantial harms to aquatic habitat, fish and wildlife, causing sedimentation and in some cases permanently damaging these public resources,” said Jessica Sims, Virginia Field Coordinator at Appalachian Voices. “An environmental assessment of Transco’s project has not even occurred at the federal level, and the public must decipher the parallel review process for SSEP and Southgate to determine the risks each of these pipelines poses individually and jointly to people and natural places.”

“This pipeline threatens not only our waterways, but the health, safety, and sovereignty of our communities,” said Dr. Crystal Cavalier-Keck, Co-founder of 7 Directions of Service. “The Southeast Supply Enhancement Project follows the same dangerous pattern as MVP Southgate—disregarding Indigenous rights, community voices, and the climate crisis. We are calling on all residents, leaders, and allies across Virginia, North Carolina, and the Southeast to join us in opposing this pipeline and to submit public comments, show up to hearings, and help us protect what cannot be replaced: our land, our water, and our future.”

“We are seeing a disturbing trend of new pipeline co-locations in the Southeast without a full understanding of how these pipelines interact with each other, both during construction and after they are in service,” noted Shelley Robbins, Senior Decarbonization Manager of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “These pipelines don’t just sit side by side – they crisscross over and under each other, and sometimes the crossings are near schools, churches, hospitals, and daycares. There is also pressure to construct these projects as fast as possible, resulting in additional safety concerns.”

“As Williams themselves wrote in a letter in the FERC docket for the SSEP, ‘the benefits of the project are not realized by those who are impacted,’ as locals will not have access to the gas in the pipeline,” said Rebekah Sale, Executive Director of the Property Rights and Pipeline Center. “This is plainly unfair for these communities to bear the risks for absolutely no benefit.” 

“This pipeline puts our children’s health at risk from toxic emissions and the threat of accidents,” said Melissa Thomas, Senior Organizer at Mothers Out Front. “Kids are especially vulnerable to pollution from gas infrastructure, and this project would lock in decades of climate harm. As mothers, we are calling on regulators to reject this dangerous pipeline and protect our communities.”

“Williams Transco has one of the worst safety records in the country, according to Pipeline Safety Trust,” said Dan Ideozu, Partnerships Manager with the POWHR Coalition. “We have watched pipelines rack up environmental violations, endanger our community and pollute our waterways. We do not need another dangerous, giant methane gas pipeline putting us at risk.”

“This is a project that is for corporate gain,” said Gary “Buck” Purgason of Good Stewards of Rockingham. “The use of eminent domain should not be allowed for this project that does not benefit everyone. Any exported gas would net huge profits to the companies, while everyone would be forced to pay higher electric bills to fund projects that take us further from the cleaner energy future we deserve.”

“The proposed SSEP project represents a huge risk for the entire region. Across Virginia and North Carolina, impacted communities feel the burden of polluted water and air, and will be treated as sacrifice zones for any leaks or explosions,” said Becki Clayborn, Sierra Club’s Acting Director of the Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign. “We cannot allow corporate interests to take precedence over the clear concerns and objections of residents.”