Mountain Valley Pipeline clears hurdle with USFS
Thursday, December 17, 2020
Last week, the United States Forest Service released a final supplemental environmental impact statement for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, bringing the project one step closer to resolving a permitting setback that has prevented construction on a small portion routed through Jefferson National Forest, according to Natural Gas Intelligence.
The USFS’s recent determination clears the way for the Bureau of Land Management to issue a right-of-way for the pipeline’s 3.5-mile span stretching through Jefferson National Forest near the Virginia-West Virginia border.
The USFS’s statement was prepared in response to a 2018 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which vacated and remanded an earlier USFS decision permitting the pipeline to cross protected forest lands.
Learn more: Natural Gas Intelligence > USFS Finalizes Review, Clearing Way for MVP to Cross National Forest
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What is fracking?
Fracking is a slang term for hydraulic fracturing. Fracturing is a process by which highly pressurized fluid is pumped thousands of feet into the ground to fracture rock formations. The goal is to release the natural gas that’s locked inside the rock.
Is it safe?
What most concerns people about fracturing is ground water contamination. The worry is that fractures underground, caused by the process, will extending upwards and into aquifers, releasing gas and chemicals into the ground water supply. There’s been no confirmed reports of such a thing happening. Though surface spills and drill site blowouts can lead to localized environmental concerns.
Will my water catch on fire?
Flammable water is caused by the release of methane gas into a drinking water supply. Methane gas occurs naturally and can be released by any kind of drilling, including water wells. In Pennsylvania officials fined Chesapeake Energy $1 million for contaminating ground water with methane. It was determined that the company had not properly cemented it’s boreholes and gas migrated up the well, between rock and into aquifers.