Mountain Valley Pipeline

August 11, 2020: The Division of Water Resources has denied the 401 Water Quality Certification and the Riparian Buffer Authorization request for this project.

Decision letter
Hearing Officer's Report
Statement from Secretary Regan

Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) proposes to construct and operate the Southgate Project, which includes 73.7 miles of underground natural gas transmission pipeline and associated aboveground facilities in Virginia and North Carolina. In North Carolina, approximately 40 miles of the pipeline will run from the Virginia border southeast through Rockingham County, east of Eden and Reidsville, southeast through Alamance County, east of Burlington, before terminating southeast of Graham. 

Associated with the construction of the proposed Southgate Project would be contractor yards, staging areas, temporary extra workspaces, and access roads. In general, as described by Mountain Valley, the purpose of Southgate Project is to meet the specific requests for natural gas transportation service of its main user, Dominion Energy (formerly PSNC Energy), which provides gas service to customers in 27 counties in North Carolina. Mountain Valley states that the project will provide additional gas for Dominion Energy to meet its projected supply needs via interconnections with the under-construction Mountain Valley Pipeline project in southern Virginia and the interstate East Tennessee Natural Gas Transmission, LLC (East Tennessee) pipeline in North Carolina. This gas would be transported to two new delivery points on the Dominion Energy distribution system in Rockingham and Alamance Counties. The project would have the capacity to transport 375 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.

DEQ has been engaged with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, sister state agencies, and MVP Southgate as the project moves through permitting and certification. Because the Southgate Project is an interstate pipeline, the decision-making authority for the project rests with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. However, MVP cannot commence project-related activities until such time as it receives all of the required permits, authorizations, and certificates from applicable federal agencies (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Army Corps, etc.), state agencies (NC DEQ, NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and the analogous agencies in Virginia), and local governments.

DEQ’s responsibilities with respect to the MVP Southgate Project are:

• Issuing the 401 water quality certification for stream and wetland crossings
• Approving Sediment and Erosion Control Plans for land-disturbing activities of one or more acre
• Issuing permits for stormwater discharges from permitted activities