A coalition of environmental and citizens groups is urging federal regulators to collectively assess the need for four regional pipeline projects that would carry fracked natural gas through Virginia, including one that would spur off into Hampton Roads.
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The various routes of the pipelines could potentially slice through national forests in Virginia and West Virginia, traverse farmland and travel through environmentally sensitive areas.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline is a joint venture between EQT Midstream Partners and affiliates of NextEra Energy Inc.
It proposed a 2016 construction start with the pipeline delivering energy by late 2018.
The other proposed pipelines are the Appalachian Connector Pipeline and the WB Express Project.
Energy companies behind the Mountain Valley Pipeline filed their formal application Friday with FERC.
Since September, energy companies have formally filed proposals with FERC to build 900 miles of pipeline from West Virginia and through Virginia.
The letter said FERC should proceed, “not with a separate EIS for each proposed pipeline, but with a PEIS that considers all of the cumulative impacts that will arise from these four proposed projects and evaluate all reasonable, less damaging alternatives”.
LLC’s (TGP) proposed Connecticut Expansion Project, which is created to provide more natural gas, including a few from the Marcellus Shale, at its northeastern delivery end through upgrades to its existing pipeline system in three states.
In comments filed with FERC, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey recently asked the agency to conduct a combined review of those projects to compare each project’s impacts and benefits.
The filing also touted the economic impact of the pipeline and the support of governors in Virginia and West Virginia.
But Lovett said he intends to push the companies to show why existing pipeline capacity, or at least a smaller number of new pipelines, can’t handle supply from the Marcellus region.
While politically popular, the proposed pipelines have stirred strong pockets of opposition along their proposed routes among landowners who don’t want a pipeline on their property and environmentalists who oppose fossil fuels in favor of solar and other climate-friendly approaches, among others.
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During the teleconference, 21st District Senator John Edwards said the potential danger for something to go wrong with a pipeline was high. “Certainly we shouldn’t be putting all of our eggs in natural gas”.
