Tag: Jefferson National Forest

Mountain Valley Pipeline Protesters Erect New Tree Sit

Protesters in Jefferson National Forest erected a new protest site today aimed at blocking construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Fern MacDougal is the latest in a string of protesters to take to the trees in protest of the 303-mile pipeline.

In a press release, she said the pipeline threatens to damage the environment and the health and well-being of poor and oppressed communities

“This pipeline will catalyze the growth and expansion of gas extraction across Appalachia, an industry which has already caused permanent harm to many communities,” she said. “We are dedicated to resisting this reckless endangerment of the land and people as long as MVP continues to operate.”

The new blockade is a 30-foot-tall platform suspended in the forest. Protesters say it’s hindering construction of an access road and boring site associated with the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Other protestors are currently camped out in trees along the pipeline’s path. That includes a tree-sit near the ridge on Peters Mountain and a monopod blockade on Pocahontas Road. The project also faces legal challenges by landowners.

Construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline is currently halted because of recent heavy rains. The pipeline developer was cited for erosion control problems in West Virginia last month.

A request for comment from the pipeline developers was not immediately returned Monday.

Comment Periods Open for Air Pollution Permits and Pipeline Survey

On West Virginia Morning, while lawmakers are working on the state’s spending plan, some Putnam County school children are getting a lesson in how to create and stick to a budget.  And two stories about how citizens can offer comments on air quality permits for natural gas drilling and a possible natural gas pipeline through the Jefferson National Forest.  These stories coming up on West Virginia Morning from West Virginia Public Broadcasting – telling West Virginia’s story.

U.S. Forest Service Extends Comment Period on Mountain Valley Pipeline

The U.S. Forest Service extended the comment period on whether portions of the Jefferson National Forest can be surveyed for a possible pipeline route.

A special-use permit would be required before surveying could be done in the national forest for the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline.

The Forest Service’s original deadline for comments was Feb. 13. Comments will now be taken until April 2.

The deadline extension is in response to a new permit application filed March 4 by Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC. Mountain Valley filed the new application because new routes it is considering for the pipeline would cross sections of the forest not covered in previous survey applications.

Forest Service Staff Officer Ken Landgraf said there’s no need to resubmit comments on the previous survey application as those comments are still being considered. He said new comments on the old survey application also will be accepted until April 2.

The Mountain Valley Pipeline company wants to survey new sections of the Jefferson National Forest in Monroe County, W.Va., and three counties in Virginia.

In February, a group of concerned citizens from Monroe County hand-delivered almost 800 letters of protest about the pipeline survey application to the Forest Service’s office in Virginia.

The proposed pipeline would carry natural gas from Wetzel County, West Virginia, to another pipeline in Pittsylvania County, in Virginia.

You can file a comment about Mountain Valley’s survey application by mail, email or fax:
Email: comments-southern-georgewashington-jefferson@fs.fed.us
Fax: (540) 265-5145
Mail or hand deliver: USDA Forest Service, Mountain Valley Pipeline Survey Comments, 5162 Valleypointe Parkway, Roanoke, VA  24019

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