The federal government gave its go-ahead Monday for construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline to start in West Virginia.
Although the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s approval was limited to work on access roads and construction yards in five West Virginia counties, it marked the first time Mountain Valley has met all the requirements for preliminary construction to begin anywhere along the 303-mile route of its natural gas pipeline.
FERC has yet to take a similar action for the Virginia section of the interstate pipeline, which would pass through the Roanoke and New River valleys.
“Tree felling, only as needed, will begin as soon as practical” in the approved West Virginia areas, Mountain Valley spokeswoman Natalie Cox wrote in an email.
