WVDEP Sets Public Hearings for Atlantic Coast Pipeline 401 Certification
The department has requested State Water Quality Certification as required by Section 401 of the Clean Water Act for the 99 miles of natural gas pipeline within West Virginia.
The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection's Division of Water and Waste Management has announced two public hearings for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline project – a 99-mile section of natural gas pipeline along with compressor stations, meter stations, access roads, and interconnects through Harrison, Lewis, Upshur, Randolph, and Pocahontas Counties in West Virginia. It is part of a 604-mile interstate pipeline in West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina to be built by Dominion Transmission, Inc. and Atlantic Coast Pipeline, LLC, which is a company formed by four energy companies: Dominion Resources, Inc., Duke Energy Corp., Piedmont Natural Gas Co. Inc., and AGL Resources, Inc.
The State 401 Water Quality Certification process is for activities that will or may discharge fill into waters of the State, and this pipeline project is proposing to mitigate for streams and wetlands that would be permanently impacted by this project, according to the department's July 5 announcement.
The hearings will start at 6 p.m. July 31 at Buckhannon-Upshur High School Auditorium and Aug. 1 at the Pocahontas County High School Auditorium.
Any interested person may submit written comments on the State 401 Water Quality Certification by addressing it to the Director of the Division of Water and Waste Management during the comment period, which continues until Aug. 4. Comments or requests should be emailed to dep.comments@wv.gov or by mail addressed to: WVDEP, Division of Water and Waste Management, ATTN: Laura Cooper, 601 57th Street SE, Charleston, WV 25304-2345.
To view the companies' application for 401 Water Quality Certification for this project, visit this page.
The documents there include a Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan dated July 18, 2016.