Federal agency approves pipeline path through forest

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The U.S. Forest Service has approved the Mountain Valley Pipeline’s proposed route through part of the Jefferson National Forest in West Virginia and Virginia.

The decision this week came after an environmental impact statement from the Forest Service last month supported plans to construct the 42-inch pipeline across 3.5 miles of forest in Monroe County in West Virginia and Giles and Montgomery counties in Virginia, the Charleston Gazette-Mail reported.

The decision on Monday prompted another legal challenge from several conservation groups, which also sued after the Forest Service approved the pipeline’s pathway in 2017. An appeals court vacated the agency’s decision.

The proposed route for the pipeline also has to be reviewed by the Bureau of Land Management and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.