One new natural gas pipeline in the U.S. Southeast would be better environmentally than two such lines, federal regulators said Friday, renewing questions about the fate of competing projects.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission released an environmental assessment for Mountain Valley’s amended Southgate project in parts of Virginia and North Carolina — finding that the 31-mile gas pipeline “would not constitute a major federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human environment.”
The 107-page review also touched on Williams Cos.’ Southeast Supply Enhancement project, which — like Mountain Valley’s Southgate project — would run alongside the existing Transcontinental gas pipeline system. Williams owns and operates the Transco pipeline that stretches from Texas to New York City.
A quarrel between the two energy companies has played out through online docket filings, with Williams asserting that its project could be “readily modified to accomodate” Southgate’s volumes, a prospect that Mountain Valley has forcefully challenged.
