Two federal agencies have taken actions that will allow a natural gas pipeline to cross streams and wetlands more than 500 times in Southwest Virginia and burrow under the Blue Ridge Parkway.
In a key step forward for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a sweeping permit late last month that will allow the buried pipeline to make 383 stream crossings and 142 passes through wetlands in six Virginia counties.
A separate decision by the National Park Service granted a right of way for the 42-inch diameter steel pipe to be laid under the Blue Ridge Parkway in Roanoke County.
The latest approvals come near the end of a lengthy regulatory process — and as time runs short for opponents who say the project will contaminate drinking water and destroy environmentally sensitive landscapes.
