Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC (MVP) has requested that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) grant a two-year extension to complete the pipeline.
In its Aug. 25 request, MVP noted that, due to unforeseen litigation and permitting challenges with the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service, the company will not be able to complete construction of the pipeline and enter it into service by Oct. 13, 2020.
The 303-mile, 42-inch natural gas pipeline system spans from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia and, once completed, will be regulated by FERC as an interstate pipeline. EQM Midstream Partners, LP, based in Canonsburg, Pa., will operate the MVP, which is expected to flow 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from the Marcellus and Utica shales.
MVP announced that the project was approximately 90 percent complete as of August 2019, but has been stalled since October 2019 after a federal appeals court invalidated a crucial permit, known as a biological opinion, from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A new biological opinion is being prepared by the federal agency.
The comment period for the request will end on Sept. 11.