Statement by Appalachian Voices on MVP’s request to place pipeline in service in May

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 23, 2024

CONTACT
Dan Radmacher, Media Specialist, (540) 798-6683, dan@appvoices.org

Yesterday, Mountain Valley Pipeline sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission asking the agency’s director of the Office of Energy Projects for official permission to place MVP in service. This request comes days before MVP developer Equitrans Midstream will release its first quarter 2024 earnings information on April 30, 2024.

Of note, the letter from MVP acknowledges low percentages for final restoration in much of the Virginia portion of the route and that the developers have yet to fully comply with the safety requirements from the consent agreement they reached with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. MVP has requested that FERC issue an approval by May 23, 2024.

Statement by Virginia Field Coordinator Jessica Sims:
“In a manner typical of its ongoing disrespect for the environment, Mountain Valley Pipeline marked Earth Day by asking FERC for authorization to place its dangerous, unnecessary pipeline into service in late May. MVP brazenly asks for this authorization while simultaneously notifying FERC that the company has completed less than two-thirds of the project to final restoration and with the mere promise that it will notify the commission when it fully complies with the requirements of a consent decree it entered into with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration last fall. Requesting an in-service decision by May 23 leaves the company very little time to implement the safety measures required by its agreement with PHMSA. There is no rush, other than to satisfy MVP’s capacity customers’ contracts — a situation of the company’s own making. We remain deeply concerned about the construction methods and the safety of communities along the route of MVP.”

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Protecting the Central and Southern Appalachian Mountain Region