During his campaign, Gov.-elect Ralph Northam wanted the regulatory process for a pair of controversial natural gas pipelines planned to be built through Virginia to be “as thorough and environmentally responsible as permitted under state and federal law.”
Yet on the eve of crucial votes by the State Water Control Board that begin this week for water-quality certifications for the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines, the Democratic lieutenant governor appears content to stay away from what critics contend has been a deeply flawed review of the potential water quality hazards posed by the blasting, trenching, ridgetop flattening and tree removal that construction will entail.
The citizen board, whose seven members were appointed by outgoing Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat who has backed the pipeline projects as drivers of jobs and economic development, will vote over the next two weeks on whether the state will issue certifications under the federal Clean Water Act that there is a “reasonable assurance” that water quality will be protected during construction. The pipelines, already approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other federal agencies, will cross some of the most mountainous terrain in the state, and opponents contend they cannot be built without dislodging sediment that could damage streams, aquifers and drinking water sources.
