North Carolina Denies Water Permit to Mountain Valley Pipeline
On August 11, 2020 the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality rejected a water permit for a 75-mile branch of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Overall, the MVP is a 300-mile project designed to transmit gas from nothwestern West Virginia to Virginia. NCDEQ explained that the North Carolina branch depended on completion of the MVP mainline on which work is currently suspended, making the North Carolina environmental impact in the meantime risky and unnecessary. NCDEQ Secretary Michael Regan said “North Carolina’s clean energy future is not dependent on adding more natural gas infrastructure. We should invest in clean, renewable energy sources and the economic benefits of energy innovation.” The MVP mainline is 92% complete and it is unclear what impact the NCDEQ denial will have on it.
