Virginia regulators have put the brakes on efforts by Mountain Valley Pipeline to build a natural gas compressor station in Montgomery County. The MVP Boost project has been paused, but the company says they hope it can be resurrected.
Currently, the federal government is reviewing MVP’s application to move more gas through its pipeline in West Virginia and Virginia and build a new compressor station in Elliston.
Last December, the Montgomery County board of supervisors sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, citing concerns with MVP Boost. County administrator Angie Hill said they believe there may be a safety issue, because the only evacuation route from the site is sometimes blocked by train traffic.
“And another concern that they wanted FERC to evaluate was the natural, physical and human environments that might be caused by adverse air emissions,” Hill said.
But before the letter to FERC, a Montgomery County attorney signed a form, agreeing that the site is suitable for a compressor station. The form is part of an air permit MVP filed with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.
DEQ said Montgomery County’s letter to FERC conflicts with the statement on the air permit form. As a result, DEQ told MVP they’re suspending the application, and if they want to continue the process, they will need to restart at the beginning.
Hill said the form they signed and the letter to FERC are not in conflict. “The reason that we believe this is because we don’t have authority over the siting of that station. That rests with FERC,” Hill said.
In an emailed statement to Radio IQ, MVP spokesperson Shawn Day said they’re working to address DEQ’s request, and all regulatory requirements for MVP Boost.
