20181638 Ver 3_Denial Letter_20200811

August 11, 2020
Certified Mail
Return Receipt Requested
7018 1130 0000 1612 7789
DWR # 20181638 v3
Alamance & Rockingham Counties
Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC
Attn: Kathy Salvador
700 Universe Boulevard
Juno Beach FL 33408
Subject: DENIAL of 401 Water Quality Certification and Jordan Lake Riparian Buffer
Authorization Application
MVP Southgate Project
Dear Ms. Salvador:
On August 13, 2019, the Division of Water Resources (Division) received your application, requesting a
401 Individual Water Quality Certification and Jordan Lake Buffer Authorization Certificate from the
Division for the subject project. The application fee for the project was subsequently received on August
15, 2019 at which time the application was complete.
Upon review of your application and supporting materials, the hearing officer’s report, the FERC Final
Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), responses to the Division’s requests for additional information,
and public comments, the Division has determined that the proposed MVP Southgate project is
inextricably linked to, and dependent upon, completion of the under-construction Mountain Valley
Pipeline (MVP Mainline) project. The physical connections and functional links between the MVP
Mainline project and the MVP Southgate project are evident in your stated purpose to “provide
additional firm natural gas transportation services … via interconnections with the under construction
Mountain Valley Pipeline project,”1 and to transport “natural gas from the existing terminus of the
Mountain Valley Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, Virginia to the T-15 Dan River Interconnect in
Rockingham County and then on to the T-21 Haw River Interconnect in Alamance County, North
Carolina.”2 Without a complete and in-service MVP Mainline, MVP Southgate project’s purpose of
1 FERC Final Environmental Impact Statement dated February 2020 [EIS-0297F, FERC Docket No.: CP19-14-000] p. 1-2 (PDF p.
38)
2 MVP Southgate Project Pre-Construction Notification Joint Permit Application, August 2019, p.2-1 (PDF p. 11)

Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC
DWR# 20181638 v3
Denial of 401 Water Quality Certification and
Jordan Lake Buffer Authorization Certificate
Page 2 of 3

providing “southern Virginia and North Carolina with direct pipeline access to the Marcellus and Utica
gas regions in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania”3 is unachievable.

As indicated in your “Response to Request for Additional Information” dated June 26, 2020, several
federal permits necessary for the construction of the MVP Mainline project have been suspended or are
pending, with some in litigation. In addition, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has issued a
stop-work order on the currently incomplete MVP Mainline project. The uncertainty of the MVP
Mainline project’s completion presents a critical risk to the achievability of the fundamental purpose of
MVP Southgate.

Certification of this project, without further confidence that it can achieve its stated purpose, is
inappropriate and allows for avoidable environmental impacts to water quality and protected riparian
buffers. This problem is unique to the MVP Southgate project in that its sole utility and purpose is tied to
and wholly relies on, the completion of the entire MVP Mainline project. The FEIS notes that most
adverse environmental impacts of the MVP Southgate project would occur during construction.4 And
that the MVP Southgate project has the potential to result in “sedimentation and turbidity, alteration or
removal of instream and stream bank cover, stream bank erosion, introduction of water pollutants,
water depletions, and entrainment of small fishes and fry during water withdrawals [which] could
increase the rates of stress, injury, and mortality experienced by fish and other aquatic life.”5 In addition,
the project would unnecessarily risk impacting high-quality waters and protected and critical drinking
water supplies of North Carolinians. As noted in your June 26, 2020 Response to Request for Additional
Information request, you intend to begin construction on the MVP Southgate project immediately once
all necessary permits are in place, irrespective of the completeness of the MVP Mainline project.
Approving construction activities and thereby allowing the most adverse environmental impacts -
without certainty of the project’s utility upon completion - is inconsistent with principles of
minimization. Therefore, the Division has determined that your applications are hereby denied.

The Division’s decision can be contested as provided in Chapter 150B of the North Carolina General
Statutes by filing a Petition for a Contested Case Hearing (Petition) with the North Carolina Office of
Administrative Hearings (OAH) within sixty (60) calendar days. Requirements for filing a Petition are set
forth in Chapter 150B of the North Carolina General Statutes and Title 26 of the North Carolina
Administrative Code. Additional information regarding requirements for filing a Petition and Petition
forms may be accessed at http://www.ncoah.com/ or by calling the OAH Clerk’s Office at [phone].
One (1) copy of the Petition must also be served to the North Carolina Department of Environmental
Quality:

William F. Lane, General Counsel
Department of Environmental Quality
1601 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-1601

3 Ibid.
4FERC Final Environmental Impact Statement dated February 2020 [EIS-0297F, FERC Docket No.: CP19-14-000] p. 5-1 (PDF p.
396)
5 Ibid. p. 5-9, (PDF p. 404)
Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC
DWR# 20181638 v3
Denial of 401 Water Quality Certification and
Jordan Lake Buffer Authorization Certificate
Page 3 of 3
Please be aware that you have no authorization under the Water Quality Certification Rules or the
Jordan Lake Riparian Buffer Rules for this activity and any work done within waters of the state or
riparian buffers may be a violation of North Carolina General Statutes and Administrative Code.
Please contact Sue Homewood at 336-776-9693 or [e-mail] if you have any
questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
S. Daniel Smith, Director
Division of Water Resources
cc: Heather Patti, TRC Environmental Corporation (via email)
David Bailey, USACE Raleigh Regulatory Field Office (via email)
Olivia Munzer, NCWRC (via email)
Todd Bowers, EPA (via email)
Christopher A. Militscher, Chief, NEPA Section, Strategic Programs Office, USEPA, 61 Forsyth St
SW, Atlanta GA 30303
Maria Clark, NEPA Section – Region 4, USEPA, 61 Forsyth St SW, Atlanta GA 30303
DWR WSRO 401 files
DWR 401 & Buffer Permitting Unit