The U.S. Forest Service agreed to allow a consortium led by EQT Midstream Partners LP to use public lands for the $3.7 billion Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline project in the Jefferson National Forest.
The agency agreed to modify 11 standards that allow the project to vary from certain restrictions as it traverses the Appalachian forest area. The pipeline company will be required to minimize adverse impacts during construction and operation in keeping with measures described in its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission certificate and plan of development, according to a Dec. 1 statement on the Forest Service website.
"This Forest Service decision supports federal policies emphasizing energy infrastructure, jobs, economic growth and our agency's efforts to provide for multiple use," the statement said. "The decision approves project-specific Forest Plan amendments. The plan amendment provides for the continued social, economic, and ecological sustainability of the Jefferson National Forest."
Opponents of the project, which would run about 300 miles through West Virginia and Virginia, said in October that they were concerned with what they viewed as deficient environmental reviews that formed the basis of the FERC decision to authorize the project. The 2-Bcf/d Mountain Valley system would deliver gas from the Appalachian production region to mid-Atlantic and Southeast markets.
Mountain Valley is a joint venture of EQT Midstream, NextEra Energy Inc. affiliates, RGC Resources Inc., WGL Holdings Inc. and Consolidated Edison Inc.
