The $6.3 billion Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline crossed a major hurdle to project completion Dec. 14 when Virginia's State Water Control Board approved its water-crossing permit in a 3-2 vote.

距西弗吉尼亚州西北部Marcellus页岩地区的303英里，42英寸的线路在弗吉尼亚州行驶107英里，并扩展到了向北卡罗来纳州的70英里延伸。开发人员包括EQM中游，Nextera，Conedison传输和WGL中游。

The board, which had a Dec. 31 deadline to decide on the permit, said it approved it after considering all public comments. The project's strongest opponent said no single project in the state in decades presented such a threat to water bodies and residents along its route.

“The board should have acted to prevent further destruction,” said David Sligh, conservation director of advocacy group Wild Virginia, noting that it will continue its seven-year fight against the project.

该线约为96％。一位项目发言人在一份声明中说：“山谷已经成功地在弗吉尼亚州成功地进行了多次水域和湿地的交叉，对水质的影响没有不利影响。”

The pipeline still needs a similar permit from West Virginia and one on the federal level from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission also must rule on the developers' request to bore under waterways in West Virginia and Virginia.

斯莱格说，董事会的决定应受到该项目违反水质要求的记录的指导。州环境记录显示，该项目违反了至少400次的水质规则。

The state's wetlands and stream protection director told the board, however, that the violations were not ongoing and that the permit complies with state laws and regulations, according to local press reports.

The project previously held a Corps Nationwide-12 permit that allowed project-wide water crossings without individual impact review, but that permit was withdrawn last year after a federal court struck down use of blanket permits on energy projects..

相反，山谷开发商正在寻求“个人许可”，并纳入了数百个过境点的审查。

美国环境保护局五月问军团除非将修改和特殊条件纳入项目中，否则拒绝水交叉许可证。

In a separate vote earlier this month, Virginia’s Air Pollution Control Board denied a state air permit for a compressor station that was set to be a key part of the pipeline extension into North Carolina, noting conflicts with siting and environmental justice requirements.