Virginia DEQ Approves Water Permits for Transco’s SSEP Pipeline
Virginia DEQ has approved state water permits for Transco’s Southeast Supply Enhancement Project, moving the multistate natural gas pipeline expansion closer to federal review.
(P&GJ) — The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has approved water permits for Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC’s proposed Southeast Supply Enhancement Project (SSEP), advancing a controversial natural gas pipeline expansion that continues to face opposition from environmental groups and local residents.
The agency approved a Virginia Water Protection Permit and Upland Certification on Dec. 23 for the methane gas pipeline, despite public comments opposing the project and raising concerns about water impacts. Environmental organizations submitted objections during the public comment period and reiterated those concerns at a Dec. 18 DEQ hearing.
RELATED: North Carolina Grants Water Permit for Transco Gas Pipeline Expansion
The SSEP would include new pipeline construction between Pittsylvania County, Virginia, and Coosa County, Alabama. In Virginia, the project proposes 26.4 miles of new pipeline in Pittsylvania County. In North Carolina, it includes 28.4 miles of new pipe across Rockingham, Guilford, Forsyth and Davidson counties, along with expanded gas-fired compressor units in Iredell and Davidson counties. Additional compressor station modifications are planned in South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama.
While the project has received state-level permits in both Virginia and North Carolina, it still requires a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Much of the proposed pipeline would be colocated alongside existing Transco infrastructure, with portions following a route similar to the proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate extension. Opponents argue that the cumulative impacts of multiple high-pressure pipelines in the same corridor were not adequately addressed during the state review process.
“The Transco SSEP’s proposed crossings of streams and wetlands pose substantial harm to aquatic habitat, fish and wildlife, and will cause sedimentation and in some cases permanently damage these public resources,” said Jessica Sims, Virginia Field Coordinator at Appalachian Voices. “The agency has granted permission for the SSEP’s developers to spoil Virginia waterways, at the cost of our communities, for a project that serves no local benefit.”
“The Virginia DEQ has proposed the same kinds of deficient requirements and enforcement approach that failed so badly on the Mountain Valley Pipeline, causing serious damage to our waters and our communities since 2018,” said David Sligh, Wild Virginia’s Water Quality Program Director. “There is no reason to believe these weak and inadequate measures will work any better on SSEP than they did on MVP. DEQ has again failed in its most basic mission and given SSEP a license to cause destruction the Clean Water Act was created to prevent.”
“Granting of these permits shows a refusal to believe the science that shows the continued burning of fossil fuels is the primary reason for stronger, more frequent, rain, floods and other impacts associated with the increase in global warming,” said Buck Purgason of Good Stewards of Rockingham. “Science should not be denied for corporate gain or political hoaxes. These pipelines have been shown to be unnecessary for future development; they are for the continued practice of fracking the Earth for export of gas for generations to come and the devastation of the planet along the way.”