Whatever method builders of the Mountain Valley Pipeline use to get from one side of a waterbody to another â either a trench dug along the bottom or a tunnel bored below â it wonât be happening anytime soon.
The latest delay came Monday, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it will extend to Dec. 31 a deadline for state regulators to decide if digging trenches will pose an unacceptable risk to the streams and wetlands of Southwest Virginia.
Earlier this year, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality sought a postponement from July 2, which it said would not allow enough time for a water quality certification that requires detailed analysis and public comment.
The history of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, from the time it was first proposed to its projected completion, will soon span the terms of three U.S. presidents.
So what impact will the incoming administration of Joe Biden â whose views on climate change and clean energy are the polar opposite of President Donald Trumpâs â have on the deeply divisive natural gas pipeline?
Itâs unlikely that a single action under Bidenâs watch would kill the buried pipeline, much of it already in the ground despite legal action from environmental groups that has delayed construction and inflated its cost to about $6 billion.