RICHMOND – Today, the State Water Control Board voted not to move forward with revoking permits it had issued allowing construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Southwest Virginia, after voting in December to begin that process following hundreds of environmental violations by the pipeline developer.
In response to today’s vote, Lee Francis, deputy director of the Virginia League of Conservation Voters, offered the following statement:
“The evidence is overwhelming that Mountain Valley Pipeline is a bad actor, that construction of this pipeline has hurt local waterways and our environment, and that the Water Control Board has the authority to put its foot down and stop further harm. In refusing to exercise that authority, state regulators have put clean water and people in the path of this pipeline further in harm’s way. This is truly a step in the wrong direction for our environment and for citizens’ health and safety.”