CHARLESTON, W.Va. — U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito said she supports the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project, a proposed 550-mile pipeline that would transport natural gas from West Virginia to North Carolina.
The $5 billion project poses some opposition in West Virginia and Virginia where the pipeline would run, but Capito urged the Federal Environmental Regulatory Commission to sign off on the project without delaying, according to POLITICO.
“We have natural gas production that will allow us, in this country, to possibly become energy independent,” said Capito on MetroNews “Talkline.”
Community meetings were held in parts of West Virginia and Virginia earlier this year. Public statements related to the potential environmental impacts of the project and concerns about how Dominion and FERC should be reacting were transcribed into the FERC’s report. Agency representatives said they heard many different viewpoints.
Capito said the project is a process that takes time and includes several meetings, but it’s time to move forward.
“I’m not advocating that we throw out the process at all, but we’ve been through the process and we’ve made the changes,” she said.
The project is still in its early stages. Should the pipelines follow the Dominion’s current schedule, the ACP would start transporting gas in late 2018.
On the same schedule, the FERC would not issue a certificate until next summer.