Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) approved erosion and sediment control, stormwater management, and karst protection plans for the Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline (ACP) on Oct. 19. The detailed protection plans specify engineering designs that will protect water quality during and after the pipeline’s construction across about 300 miles of the Old Dominion, DEQ said.
(Karst, for those among us who have forgotten much of what we learned in our introductory geology classes, is terrain characterized by barren, rocky ground; caves; sinkholes; underground rivers; and the absence of surface streams and lakes, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica.)
Approval of the plans made Virginia’s upland Section 401 Clean Water Act certification effective, giving the 600-mile project from West Virginia to eastern North Carolina the commonwealth’s authorization to begin construction. “The next step is to get the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s final approval. Construction already is under way in West Virginia and North Carolina,” Dominion Energy spokesman Aaron F. Ruby told OGJ on Oct. 22.
In addition to the Richmond-based gas and electric utility, ACP’s other sponsors are Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, and Southern Co. Gas.
“DEQ’s erosion and sediment and stormwater regulations, and our extensive 401 certification gives the agency several enforcement tools to protect water quality and ensure compliance with Virginia’s rigorous requirements,” said DEQ Director David Paylor. “Our engineers and staff spent 15 months reviewing ACP’s plans to further ensure water quality protections were accurately incorporated.”
Ruby said the agency’s process was the most sweeping of any energy transmission project in Virginia’s history. “We’ve put in place some of the strongest environmental protections ever used by the industry to keep soil and sediment out of our streams and rivers during construction,” he said.
Another project moves ahead
Another interstate gas pipeline project won similar DEQ approval about a year ago. The proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) would extend more than 300 miles from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia and has firm contract commitments for its full capacity. Partners in the joint venture include EQM Midstream Partners LP, which will operate the system; NextEra US Gas Assets LLC; Con Edison Transmission Inc.; WGL Midstream; and RGC Midstream LLC.
MVP may be farther along than ACP, but the project suffered a setback on Oct. 2 when the US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a Clean Water Act Section 404 stream and wetland crossing permit issued by the US Army Corps of Engineers Huntington District.
That affected about 160 miles of the pipeline’s route in West Virginia, and officials said MVP’s team was evaluating options for continuing construction along segments that do not cross streams or wetlands in the state.
