West Virginia withdraws approval of Mountain Valley Pipeline
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia environmental regulators say they are rescinding approval for building the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which would carry natural gas down the center of West Virginia for 195 miles.
In a letter Thursday, the Department of Environmental Protection says it’s vacating the water quality certification issued in March, which followed review of the projected impact on the state’s waters.
The pipeline would extend south from north-central West Virginia through 11 counties to the Virginia state line and 108 miles through six counties in that state.
In June, five citizen groups asked a federal appeals court to overturn the state approval.
DEP spokesman Jake Glance says during a review of that appeal, “it was determined that the information used to issue that certification needs to be further evaluated and possibly enhanced.”