Feds Must Reconsider MVP Extension, Say NC Politicians & Impacted Community
Washington, D.C. — The federal government is receiving increasing pressure from North Carolina lawmakers and impacted community members to reconsider the Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate extension’s new plan.
Representatives Kathy Manning, Robert Scott, Valerie Foushee, and Jennifer McClellan, called on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to require a new certificate application from Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) for its “redesigned” Southgate Project. The lawmakers emphasized the increased volume of gas and altered purpose of MVP Southgate’s proposed changes, saying it “goes beyond a set of modest changes to an existing certificate–it is a new pipeline…”
The Southern Environmental Law Center shares these concerns, stating: “the pipeline is larger, its impacts are different, and it’s serving a different need than when it was certified, so the certification should no longer stand.”
Impacted community member Katie Whitehead demanded FERC rescind MVP Southgate’s extension of time, which the agency granted ten days before MVP announced the proposed new plan.
Russell Chisholm, co-director of the Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights Coalition (POWHR) said:
“This new project necessitates a new certificate from FERC. The federal government cannot continue to dole out free passes to the fossil fuel industry, just so they can use our lives as disposable pawns in their murderous game. The reality of the climate crisis is urgent and FERC must reconsider the environmental and community impacts of this new project plan. From MVP’s mainline to its extension, this project is a deadly liability to the federal government and all its investors.”
The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality rejected a water permit for MVP Southgate twice, citing the “unnecessary water quality impacts and disturbance of the environment.” MVP Southgate tried to secure land for the extension through eminent domain but gave up in 2022. The North Carolina Governor asked FERC to deny the certificate extension last summer, citing the state’s climate goals.
Despite the abundance of scientific evidence that the MVP and its extension are unnecessary and unwanted, and the recklessness of the company, a spokesperson for FERC defends the certificate, saying FERC will address changes “if and when MVP provides a formal proposal.”
“Let FERC hear us loud and clear: we will never stop fighting for our lives, no matter how consistently federal agencies side with fossil fuel greed over environmental law, our rights to clean air and water, and the planet,” said Russell Chisholm.
People around the country are holding FERC accountable for green lighting fossil fuel destruction of our communities and planet, thus ignoring the opportunity of stopping all new fossil fuel projects and making a decisive turn to renewable energy. Last week, the Institute for Policy Studies, Extinction Rebellion DC, Third Act Virginia, and Beyond Extreme Energy laid global scientific consensus before the commission. On the same day, FERC greenlit more fossil fuel projects in Appalachia.
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