The U.S. Forest Service approved a route for the Mountain Valley Pipeline that goes through Jefferson National Forest for the second time in the last four years.
The Sierra Club, Appalachian Voices, Wild Virginia, The Wilderness Society, Preserve Criad, Save Monroe, the Indian Creek Watershed Association and the Monacan Indian Nation have filed another challenge to the pipeline after the approval.
"Indian Creek Watershed Association is very concerned about the impact of the two proposed pipelines on the water and watershed areas," a statement from the Indian Creek Watersheed Association said. "The large size and scale of the pipes and required easement corridors; the numerous stream crossings, including in sensitive limestone and karst areas; and the erosion and run-off from vertical cuts over ridges and Peters Mountain—all of these put our watersheds at serious risk and threaten the quality of life unique to Monroe County. There must be a very transparent review and decision-making process that both solicits and takes into consideration the concerns of everyone affected."
The approval comes after an environmental impact statement the Forest Service published in December. that statement laid out plans for construction, operation and maintenance across the 3.5 miles through Jefferson National Forest that spans Monroe County and into Giles and Montgomery counties in Virginia.
The Forest Service first approved the pipeline in 2017. In 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated a decision by the Bureau of Land Management that granted the decision to permit the right of way and construction through the forest after the conservations groups previously challenged the construction.
The pipeline must now obtain permits from the Bureau of Land Management and comply with a right-of-way grant before it can go further. It can't begin construction on national forest lands until he obtains authorizations on both state and federal levels for the entire project.
