An analysis by Mountain Valley Pipeline of the controversial project’s impacts on intact forests in Virginia underestimated those effects by more than 300 percent, according to an assessment by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and other state agencies.
In a July 21 filing, the department alerted the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of “many deficiencies in the MVP approach to evaluate forest fragmentation” that would be caused by the pipeline and the 125-foot wide temporary right-of-way the project would clear of trees and vegetation during construction, as well as the permanently treeless right-of-way of 50 feet in most places.
The agencies said fragmentation of an irreplaceable forest core diminishes its significant, wide-ranging ecological benefits. According to the filing, a “forest core” is an ecological unit that represents an intact block of forest of at least 100 acres.
On Friday, Diana Christopulos, president of the Roanoke Appalachian Trail Club, alerted FERC that the club is “very disappointed in the FEIS treatment of forest fragmentation,” which is defined as the breaking of large, contiguous forested areas into smaller, disconnected pieces.
As an interstate pipeline, the 303-mile Mountain Valley project needs FERC’s approval before construction can begin. The buried 42-inch diameter pipeline would transport natural gas at high pressure through 11 counties in West Virginia and six in Virginia.
FERC’s final environmental impact statement concluded that construction and operation of the pipeline “would result in limited adverse environmental impacts, with the exception of impacts on forest.” FERC found that those impacts would be significant, in part because of the total acres of forest affected, the quality and use of forest for wildlife habitat and the time it would take to restore areas cleared during construction.
The Roanoke Times – Duncan Adams – 07/31/2017
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