$5B, 550-mile natural gas pipeline to start in Harrison County

The Charleston Gazette
September 2, 2014
$5B, 550-mile natural gas pipeline to start in Harrison County
By Caitlin Cook, Staff writer

Four major energy companies are coming together for a new 550-mile natural gas pipeline project that starts in Harrison County, creating a new route for Marcellus and Utica shale gas to flow southeast...

...Several groups, including West Virginia Wilderness Lovers, Friends of Blackwater and the Greenbrier River Watershed Association voiced opposition to the project, which would run through the Monongahela National Forest and George Washington National Forest...

We are concerned about water quality and the trout fishery in general,” McCarty said. She added that area residents are becoming more concerned with the potential property values diminishing with pipeline projects and eminent domain.

In a letter to Sen. Jay Rockefeller D-W.Va., opposing the project, the Friends of Blackwater note the pipeline will cut through mountains at nearly 4,000 feet, the habitats of endangered species such as the Indiana and Virginia big-eared bat, the Cheat Mountain salamander and the West Virginia northern flying squirrel. The Friends of Blackwater letter also points out the project will cross six West Virginia rivers that provide clean drinking water for the region.

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