Eighteen lawmakers from the Virginia General Assembly submitted a letter Tuesday to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, asking the agency to deny the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s request to start running gas by June 1.
In their letter, lawmakers cited the failure of a section of pipe in Roanoke County last week, as it was undergoing hydrostatic testing.
“If gas was going through the pipeline it would have been devastating,” said Sam Rasoul, one of the delegates who signed the letter. “This failure confirms our concerns and it’s premature for it to go in service now.”
Rasoul, whose district is based in Roanoke, and lawmakers from other parts of the state say MVP has not met necessary requirements set forth in a consent agreement with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, signed last year.
That agreement came after PHMSA launched an investigation, and found conditions along the pipeline that pose a safety risk. The consent agreement calls for MVP to test its pipes for any structural or coating deficiencies and potential corrosion issues. The company is also required to do hydrostatic testing of the pipeline.
Critics say MVP still has much of this work left to do.
A spokesperson for MVP, Natalie Cox, said in an email that the pipeline has completed hydrotesting approximately 269 miles of the project’s 303-mile route. She added that the failure at the hydrotest last week does show “that the testing process is working as designed and intended.” She added that MVP is evaluating what caused the pipe failure.
PHMSA said the failed section of pipe has been transported to a metallurgical lab for analysis.
