U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Story Archives - Page 2 of 3

Following Permit Suspension, Mountain Valley Pipeline Barred from All Water Crossings

A major natural gas pipeline under construction in West Virginia and Virginia cannot continue construction under streams, rivers and wetlands across its entire 303-mile route, following the decision late last week by a federal agency.

In a letter sent Friday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Pittsburgh District told Mountain Valley Pipeline officials they were suspending the project’s water crossings permit, also known as the Nationwide Permit 12, for Wetzel and Harrison counties.

The decision marks the third suspension or invalidation of the project’s water crossings permits. Earlier this month, a federal court threw out the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s water crossings permit issued by the Army Corps of Engineers’ Huntington District, which covered pipeline construction through much of West Virginia.

Three days later, the Army Corps’ Norfolk District in Virginia suspended all water crossings there.

“Friday’s suspension makes clear yet again that the permits hastily given to the fracked-gas Mountain Valley Pipeline don’t stand up to scrutiny,” said Anne Havemann, general counsel at Chesapeake Climate Action Network, in a statement. “Key permits for the Mountain Valley Pipeline have been thrown out again and again, confirming that this pipeline — and the similarly destructive Atlantic Coast Pipeline — is too dangerous to ever be built.”

A coalition of environmental groups that oppose the pipeline have asked federal regulators at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to issue a full stop-work order for all pipeline construction. They argue the invalidation of the Army Corps’ water crossings permit means the project lacks full approvals and should be temporarily stopped.

Mountain Valley Pipeline spokeswoman Natalie Cox said in a statement the project expects to receive a new or resissued water crossings permit in early 2019. After that happens, she said the pipeline expects the two suspended permits in West Virginia and Virginia to be reinstated.

Until then, Cox said the pipeline will continue other construction and does not expect the lack of water crossings to affect the pipeline’s projected in-service date of late 2019.

The Army Corps estimates the Mountain Valley Pipeline will be constructed under streams, rivers or wetlands 1,146 times, inclduing 59 stream crossings and 62 wetland crossings in Wetzel and Harrison counties.

Federal Court Throws Out Key Mountain Valley Pipeline Permit

The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals sided with environmental groups Tuesday and threw out a major federal water crossings permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Environmental advocates said the move could significantly slow down construction through much of West Virginia and is expected to affect about 160 miles of the pipeline’s route in the state.

In an order released just days after the court heard the case Friday, the court vacated the pipeline’s water-crossings permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Huntington District. The district encompasses much of the state, including the southern region, and the order affects major river crossings for the Elk, Gauley, Greenbrier and Meadow rivers.

History in the Courts

The Nationwide Permit 12 allows pipeline developers to disrupt streams, rivers and wetlands during construction, while maintaining water quality standards under the federal Clean Water Act.

The court in June halted construction of the 303-mile pipeline under bodies of water, because the pipeline developer’s own documents showed they could not complete construction quickly enough to comply with the federal Army Corps permit.

In late August, hours after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission decided construction could continue more broadly across the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s route, the 4th Circuit lifted its stay on water crossings in West Virginia.

‘Major Win’

But on Monday, the same court agreed with arguments made by environmental groups that the Army Corps erred when it allowed pipeline developers to use the “dry cut” method to install the pipeline through rivers and streams. That method includes damming the water source before pipeline installation and can take 4 to 6 weeks.

West Virginia environmental regulators proposed additional stipulations on the pipeline under the Nationwide Permit 12. The state requires all stream crossing be done within 72 hours.

“We conclude, for reasons to be more fully explained in a forthcoming opinion, that the Corps lacked authority to substitute the ‘dry cut’ requirement ‘in lieu of’ West Virginia’s 72-hour temporal restriction,” the order stated.

The West Virginia DEP is currently weighing whether it should change the 72-hour special consideration for pipeline stream and river crossings.

Environmental groups called the decision a major win. In an emailed statement, Appalachian Mountain Advocates said it will “significantly impede construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline for the foreseeable future.”

They said the Army Corps will likely have to do additional environmental analysis and will likely be required to issue a project-specific Clean Water Act permit or “individual” permit, rather than the more general Nationwide Permit 12.

The Nationwide Permit 12 covers all stream and wetland disruptions caused by utility line construction nationwide. It is one of about 50 broader so-called “general permits” that can be granted under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.

Mountain Valley Pipeline spokeswoman Natalie Cox said in an email that developers were “disappointed” by the decision.

She said project developers are “evaluating options to understand its ability to continue with construction activities that do not include stream and wetland crossings along this portion of the route.”

New River Gorge Offering Free Water Safety Instruction

Water safety instruction will be given this weekend at New River Gorge National River.

The National Park Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are offering their annual safety program on Saturday and Sunday. Water safety activities are free and offer the chance for anyone to learn how to be safe during recreational activities around water.

Instruction will be given on proper fitting and use of a personal flotation device or life jacket, as well as tips to stay safe while boating on rivers and lakes.

Summer hours for the four visitor centers also begin this weekend.

For water safety event schedule, visit http://www.nps.gov/neri/planyourvisit/water-safety-weekend.htm .

Volunteers Sought to Clean Up West Virginia's Sutton Lake

Volunteers are being sought to help clean up Sutton Lake.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says in a news release that trash and debris will be picked up next Saturday.

The statement says the first 100 people who sign up will receive a T-shirt and volunteers will be invited to a barbecue cookout later Saturday at Sutton Lake Marina.

Flooding last year left a significant amount of trash around the lake.

The statement says volunteers can use their own boats or walk along any of the dozens of creeks flowing into the lake. Gloves and trash bags will be provided.

For more information or to pre-register, call the Sutton Lake Office at (304) 765-2816.

Corps to Hold Public Meetings About Bluestone Dam Work

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is holding public hearings starting this week on proposed work at Bluestone Dam in Hinton.

The agency says Bluestone Dam helps reduce flood hazards to the New and Kanawha River valleys, through Charleston and to Point Pleasant and beyond on the Ohio River. Nearly half of the water that flows through Charleston comes from Bluestone Dam.

The Corps is implementing modifications to the project to address dam safety issues and is proposing additional significant investments that could take about 10 years to implement.

Hearings are set for Thursday at the Charleston Civic Center, Oct. 4 at West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery, and Oct. 6 at the Summers County Memorial Building in Hinton. Open house starts at 6 p.m. followed by the public hearing at 6:30 p.m.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Dams Prevented Much More Flooding

As storms rolled across West Virginia last Thursday unloading water in areas throughout the state, many of the state’s dams were functioning at high capacity. Aaron Smith is a Senior Project Manager with the Huntington District of the Army Corps of Engineers. He said dams like the Bluestone located in Summers county just upstream from Hinton did their job.

“A lot of people in Charleston don’t realize that they live downstream from one of the largest dams in the state, Bluestone, which could send waters downstream that could put Charleston under 10-15 feet of water. And that’s an extreme event and I don’t mean to scare people, but it’s an important fact that you need to realize,” Smith said.

The Huntington district of the corps controls all seven dams that exist in the state of West Virginia. The ones most effected by the weather event last Thursday were the:

Sutton dam located on the Elk.
Summersville dam located on the Gauley.
Bluestone dam located on the New River.

Jim Schray is the Senior Water Management Specialist at the Huntington District of the corps. Schray said on Thursday of last week things kicked into high gear mid-afternoon.

“As we’re watching those dams and watching the gauges downstream we’re starting to see very significant rises and we’re seeing significant rainfall,” Schray said. “So early afternoon we’re basically slamming shut the gates to cut off that water and store it to reduce the floods downstream, so it was very busy. Traditionally on a normal day, I’m running one computer model, on Thursday I was running 6.”

Schray said some of the heaviest of the rain fell outside the dams’ control – below Summersville, below Bluestone and below Sutton. He said they were able to catch most of the rain that fell above the dams. When they see storms starting to take shape in the models, they always close the dams.

“Basically we impound that water in our dam,” Schray said. “If you look at Summersville specifically, the elevation that resulted from this event is the second highest in its history. We stored almost 42 feet of water and we store that water till the downstream stages drop below the damage levels.”

He said they started to see those lower, normal levels on Saturday which led to the release of water at Summersville and Sutton. The controlled release allows the dam to slowly get back to normal levels, so the corp can be ready in case of another weather event.

Schray said when storms exceed the ability of the dam too retain flood waters it’s called a spillway event. In those instances, a dam may have to spill a significant amount of water downstream, and that can cause flooding too. Schray says the state-run Summit Lake Dam above Richwood experienced a spillway event last week.

According to Smith and Schray the idea of a dam on the Greenbrier River is one that’s floated around in the past, but there’s never been enough support to make it a reality.