Welding operation on 40 inch MVP in WV

From an Article by Jessica Farrish, Beckley Register Herald, December 3, 2019

A Texas corporation that has put down roots in Raleigh County is no longer working on a controversial natural gas pipeline in West Virginia, after the pipeline’s major stakeholder unexpectedly cancelled the Texas company’s contract last month.

The Mountain Valley Pipeline is a joint project of EQM Midstream Partners LP, Con Edison Transmissions Inc., NextEra US Gas Assets LLC, WGL Midstream and RGC Midstream.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in October halted construction of the 303-mile interstate pipeline pending the outcome of a series of court challenges launched by environmental groups.

In the last week of November, EQM Midstream Partners LP cancelled a work contract for Trinity Energy Services of Argyle, Texas, Trinity spokesman Bob McKibbon verified Monday. “We’ve all been kind of in the dark with it, as far as not much detail,” McKibbon said Monday. “There’s nobody else talking to us about it.”

Mountain Valley began work on the pipeline in February 2018, with partners anticipating the project would be completed by the end of 2019, at a cost of $3.7 billion. In October, Mountain Valley announced plans to have the pipeline operational by mid-2020, at a cost of $5.3 to $5.5 billion.

The company owns a hangar at Raleigh County Memorial Airport and leases a second one, airport manager Tom Cochran. The company also purchases plane fuel locally.

Cochran said Monday that he is hopeful Trinity will stay in Raleigh County. “We appreciate the business that they have offered to us and not only the airport but our community,” said Cochran. “This is going to be felt across the county.

The pipeline is set to cut across 600 streams and more than 400 wetlands along its proposed path from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) had cited Trinity for water safety violation rules in May 2018, according to a report by The Gazette-Mail.

According to the WVDEP complaint, Trinity was cited for unsatisfactory perimeter control and failure to install devices in a timely manner at four sites (Slate Run Road, Route 219 Crossing, “Mr Law’s field” and War Ridge Road) in Wetzel County. Receiving streams were the Ohio River, Fishing Creek, North Fork and Mobley Run, according to the WVDEP complaint.

Investors had planned for Mountain Valley to be finished by the fourth quarter of 2019, but work was temporarily ceased in October by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), due to federal agencies suspending three key sets of permits that is necessary for the project.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently considering whether to re-issue permits that would allow the pipeline to cross more than 1,000 streams in West Virginia and Virginia. Overseen by FERC, the interstate pipeline cuts through 11 state counties, including Fayette, Greenbrier, Nicholas, Summers and Monroe counties, and six Virginia counties. Citizens along its route, including environmental groups, have opposed construction.

In October, FERC ordered all construction to stop immediately while legal challenges are being decided by judges. The pipeline’s developers in October said that it is 90 percent complete but has work ahead in sensitive areas.

Diana Charletta, president and chief operating officer of EQM Midstream Partners, the operator of MVP, acknowledged schedule delays and cost overruns. “We have encountered unforeseen development challenges; however, we continue to make progress towards ultimate completion,” Charletta stated in October.

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MVP pipeline opponents say erosion controls are inadequate

By Joe Dashiell, WSHV, Harrisonburg, VA, November 20, 2019

ROANOKE, Va. (WDBJ) — Opponents of the Mountain Valley Pipeline say sediment and erosion controls approved by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality are not protecting water and endangered species.

During a Roanoke news conference they cited conditions near Yellow Finch Lane in Montgomery County. They said citizen monitors documented problems there in the days after the VA-DEQ approved the controls.

“This kind of a project cannot be built without causing both acute and chronic long-term harm to our water resources,” said pipeline opponent Tammy Belinsky.