By Allen Johnson, Eight Rivers Council
This is short notice, but your help is needed to help combat the destructive Mountain Valley Pipeline. Many of us receiving this email appreciated the support we had that thwarted and stopped the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. Let’s help our friends to the south!
Please take some time to make comments to the U.S. Forest Service by February 6, and to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by February 10. Your citizen comments can help bolster these agencies to conduct their regulatory responsibilities with integrity.
West Virginia Rivers Coalition has put together a concise template on how to effectively comment. https://wvrivers.org/2023/01/mvp-feb23/ Or see points below.
Two Important Opportunities to Comment on the MVP
The Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) is 5 years behind schedule, billions of dollars over budget, and only about 50% of the project has achieved final restoration. However, the companies behind this boondoggle continue to try to push the project forward. There are two permits with pending approvals from federal agencies that you can weigh in on this month.
Permit: US Forest Service
After the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated MVP’s approval to cross 3.5 miles of the Jefferson National Forest and the Appalachian Trail in Monroe County, WV and Giles County, VA, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) released a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS). Our public lands and the streams within them are managed and protected with a forest plan. The SEIS outlines 11 changes to the plan in an attempt to allow MVP to cross these sensitive areas.
The public has until February 6 to comment
Permit: US Army Corps of Engineers
For years, the Mountain Valley Pipeline has struggled to obtain their stream crossing permit from the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). First, they tried to use a basic, general permit that was not sufficient for their large-scale project. When that didn’t work, they tried to change the conditions of the general permit. That also got them into trouble, so last year they finally relented and applied for an individual permit from USACE. However, the information they supplied for that permit application was insufficient to meet the permit requirements.
Now, MVP has finally supplied the necessary information. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) released for public comment MVP’s proposed monitoring and restoration plans for streams and wetlands impacted by construction. However, it should come as no surprise, given their track record, that MVP’s Comprehensive Stream and Wetland Monitoring, Restoration, and Mitigation Framework is woefully insufficient.
Comment by February 10
Courtesy Article
Appalachian Chronicle 
Done!
“May Light always surround you;
Hope kindle and rebound you.
May your Hurts turn to Healing;
Your Heart embrace Feeling.
May Wounds become Wisdom;
Every Kindness a Prism.
May Laughter infect you;
Your Passion resurrect you.
May Goodness inspire
your Deepest Desires.
Through all that you Reach For,
May your arms Never Tire.”
― D. Simone