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