Thomas Hadwin
I have read with interest the various community opinions about the Mountain Valley Pipeline. As a former electric and gas utility executive, I am very familiar with the challenges involved in creating the energy facilities we need at a reasonable cost and with the least possible disruption to our environment.
So far, MVPâs record of environmental protection has not been good. They have been cited for hundreds of permit violations and fined $2.7 million. Construction in the areas with the greatest potential for landslides, soil erosion and stream crossing impacts has not yet occurred.
In their June 30 opinion column, Cline Brubaker and Bob Camicia, former Franklin County Supervisors, argue that if the MVP were finished, the Summit View Business Park could draw new businesses and jobs to the area, benefitting the region and making a certain amount of environmental disruption acceptable.
Robbie Harris has more.
Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality is getting more time to assess the impact of the 303-mile, 42-inch-wide pipeline on hundreds of tiny streams and waterways. This week the Army Corps of Engineers granted an extension until spring of next year.
Tom Cormons is with the advocacy group Appalachian Voices.
“We take the extension to be a real signal that protecting water quality is a priority for the federal and state regulators here, Cormons says. And, it really needs to be if you look at the hundreds of violations that the Mountain Valley Pipeline has already accrued over the years.”
Brubaker and Camicia: Finish the MVP; it helps Franklin County roanoke.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from roanoke.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.