CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — The embattled Mountain Valley Pipeline has received its final green light, and we could see construction work resume there within weeks, according to Congressional sources.
The pipeline project has been tied up in the court and Congress for years, but it now has the final go-ahead.
Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) says that construction on the final 20 miles of pipeline through southern West Virginia should resume within 30 days.
Capito first tweeted that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) had its final approval needed for construction to resume. This was after the Army Corps of Engineers issued its final permit recently.
The pipeline is projected to produce billions of cubic feet of natural gas, bringing a lot of economic impact to West Virginia from domestic and foreign customers.
“We’re going to see thousands of jobs. We’re going to see our resource being moved south, to power certain parts of the country. But also we’re going to see a much more vibrant job development in the Marcellus Shale region,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, (R) West Virginia.
The Sierra Club, Wilderness Society, and other environmental groups have threatened more legal challenges. But Senator Capito says they’d have to prove Congress erred, when lawmakers included the permitting process in the recent, unrelated bill to raise the nation’s debt ceiling.
While the pipeline would initially run to Roanoke, Virginia, there is still talk of extending it into North Carolina someday.