State regulators on Friday cited the Mountain Valley Pipeline for violations of environmental rules and ordered the developers of the $7.85 billion natural gas project to pay a $31,500 fine.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality outlined more than a dozen offenses mostly related to erosion and sediment control, including sediment impacting wetlands and fill material accumulating in the Blackwater River and the Maggodee Creek in Franklin County.
Most of the violations detailed in the DEQ’s letter to the pipeline joint venture company were corrected in under 24 hours. Individual penalties ranged from $500 to $6,500.
“Each quarter, the MVP project team conducts a standard review with the VADEQ regarding the project’s ongoing field inspections,” Mountain Valley Pipeline spokesperson Natalie Cox said in an email. “The recent letter from VADEQ includes stipulated penalties for the first quarter of 2024, which were primarily related to exceeding agreed upon installation and/or repair timelines. These noted items were quickly resolved, and full payment will be made without dispute.”
The 303-mile, 42-inch-diameter Mountain Valley Pipeline is expected to transport up to 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas daily from West Virginia through six Virginia counties, ending at a Transco compressor station in Pittsylvania County. Developers hope to have the pipeline in service before the end of this month.
The $31,500 total penalty was based on a review of site inspections during one quarter, from Dec. 11 through March 10. The DEQ determined that Mountain Valley violated a consent decree that came after developers agreed in December 2019 to pay $2.15 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the state agency.
It’s the third such quarterly penalty since pipeline construction resumed this past summer with the U.S. Supreme Court’s approval. The DEQ fined Mountain Valley $34,000 and $2,500 for violations during the previous two quarters.
Supporters of the Mountain Valley Pipeline say it will carry natural gas to mid- and south Atlantic U.S. markets, meeting a demand for energy. The project received a boost this past summer when Congress passed a law fast-tracking its completion.
Pipeline opponents say the project is unnecessary, dangerous and harmful to the environment. For years they have mounted legal and permitting challenges against the pipeline, which was first announced in 2014 with an anticipated completion date in 2018, and its proposed $370 million extension into North Carolina.
Eighteen Democrats in the Virginia General Assembly sent a letter dated Tuesday to the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission, asking it to deny Mountain Valley’s request to grant the project in-service status by May 23. FERC is the federal agency that regulates the construction of interstate gas pipelines.
The lawmakers said the May 23 date would be “premature” and cited the failure of a section of pipe during hydrostatic testing, concerns about the quality of pipeline that was left exposed to sun and water for years and the fact that much of the land impacted by construction has yet to be restored.
“Virginians along the route understandably have years-long concerns about the construction of the project,” they wrote.