Liz Kirchner
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission will publish a call for public comment and inquiry on the Mountain Valley pipeline in this paper on Wednesday, Oct. 11.
The public will have 15 days to comment and ask questions.
The pipeline will cross 18 streams that have large enough watersheds to make those streams state-owned, thus requiring MRC permission to cross.
Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC building the deeply controversial natural gas pipelines pays for the posting of the public notice.
In addition to the multiple state and federal environmental regulatory agency input, the commission, comprised of 8 governor-appointed commissioners, requires public comment to guide its decision on granting stream-crossing permission.
“It’s like if I want to build a fence and some of my fence is on your land, I have to get permission from you,” Randy Owen, VMRC Environmental Engineer in charge of this project said.
The VMRC is the state agency that regulates what can be done in, on, or around a jurisdictional stream in order to protect water quality, environmental health, and ecosystem system services provided by that stream.
“That’s state property, so the Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC need our permission to cross those streams,” Owen said.
The call for public comment notice will be posted in the five Virginia newspapers that serve Pittsylvania, Giles, Montgomery, and Franklin Counties in which the pipeline will cross state-owned streams: The Roanoke Times, The Danville Register & Bee, The Virginian Leader, and the Franklin News Post.
