The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) Division of Water and Waste Management (DWWM) will be extending the public comment period on the State 401 Water Quality Certification for the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline project until further notice.
Originally, the public comment period, which is required under state regulation 47CSR5A, would have ended next week, but because of widespread public interest in the proposed project, DWWM will be scheduling public hearings to discuss certification of the proposed project. Information about the dates and locations of those hearings will be made public as soon as plans are finalized.
The $3.5 billion project, developed by EQT Corp., involves a 42-inch-diameter pipeline that would run 301 miles south from the Equitrans L.P. transmission system near the MarkWest Energy Mobley Complex in Wetzel County to a Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Co. compressor station in Pittsylvania County, VA. This project is one of multiple pipeline projects currently under review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
When issuing certification, DWWM’s 401 Certification Program may consider the proposed activity’s impact on water resources, fish and wildlife, recreation, critical habitats, wetlands and other natural resources. In its 401 certification application, EQT anticipates that the Mountain Valley Pipeline project will have temporary impacts to approximately 49,892 linear feet of streams and 18.9 acres of wetlands and permanent impacts to approximately 3,125 linear feet of streams and 10 acres of wetlands within the Mountain State.
The 401 Water Quality Certification application is available for inspection between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, at WVDEP headquarters, located at 601 57th Street SE in Charleston.
Comments and information relating to the certification should be emailed to DEP.comments@wv.gov with “MVP 401 Certification” in the subject line or mailed to:
West Virginia Department of
Environmental Protection
Division of Water and Waste
Management
401 Certification Program
601 57th Street SE
Charleston, WV 25304
