Developers of the Mountain Valley pipeline asked federal regulators Monday for a quick approval to place the natural gas project into service, more than six years after the U.S. gave a green light to construct the pipeline.
In a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, a lawyer for lead developer Equitrans Midstream said the pipeline is “mechanically complete.” Hydrostatic testing — a process that uses pressure and water to test for potential leaks and evaluate the integrity of materials — is also completed, Equitrans said.
Mountain Valley asked FERC, an independent agency, to issue the authorization by Tuesday and said the final segments of the pipeline are “currently being purged and packed with natural gas.” The natural gas pipeline is designed to run 303 miles from West Virginia to southern Virginia.
“Multiple shippers have executed agreements to commence transporting volumes using the Project facilities beginning the day after the Project declares in-service, which further heightens the need for prompt authorization to meet market demands,” said Matthew Eggerding, deputy general counsel at Equitrans, in the filing.
