West Virginia

Debt limit deal would allow controversial Mountain Valley pipeline’s completion to be expedited

Published

1 year ago

May 30, 2023

Debt limit deal would allow controversial Mountain Valley pipeline’s completion to be expedited

Congress may be on its way to avoiding debt default for the nation, but it could come at some environmental cost. Included in the text of the deal is a provision that would approve the remaining permits for the controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline, thereby “expediting completion” of a project championed by West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat.

The permitting provision – which takes up 25 of the bill’s 99 pages – identifies the pipeline by name and, noting it would carry natural gas more than 300 miles across the Virginias, it says that the pipeline is “required in the national interest” to “increase the reliability of natural gas supplies and the availability of natural gas at reasonable prices.”

But the pipeline, which is nearly complete, has undergone months of battling for its final permits and has a history of environmental concerns. And the fight to expedite its approval may not be over: the debt ceiling bill still must go through Congress, and several members are already unhappy with the inclusion of the pipeline. On Tuesday, six House Democrats filed an amendment to remove it from the bill.

In the Senate, Democrat of Virginia, Sen. Tim Kaine, also told CBS News that he is “extremely disappointed” by the provision.

“[It’s] bypassing the normal judicial and administrative review process every other energy project has to go through,” the spokesperson told CBS News. “This provision is completely unrelated to the debt ceiling matter.”

If Congress were to keep the provision, it would approve “all authorizations, permits, verifications, extensions, biological opinions, incidental take statements and any other approvals or orders issued” that are necessary for its construction and operation. It would also expedite the process, so that the pipeline’s permits could be approved within 21 days of the bill’s enactment.

What is the Mountain Valley Pipeline project?

According to the project’s website, the pipeline would run about 303 miles from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia, providing up to 2 million dekatherms a day of natural gas to the mid- and South Atlantic U.S. Construction on the pipeline began in 2018 and the company set a goal for it to be in service later this year.

Manchin reintroduced legislation earlier this month to ease permitting on energy projects, including the pipeline. He has tried to attach it to larger bills but has failed. Manchin argues that permitting reform — and this pipeline — are necessary for the nation’s energy security. In April, the pipeline lost a key permit after a federal appeals court said that the state hadn’t properly assessed the impact the pipeline would have on streams and wetlands. The court said there have been at least 46 water quality violations totaling more than half a million dollars in fines, the Associated Press reported.

A few weeks later, the U.S. Forest Service reissued another key permit that would allow the pipeline to go through about 3 1/2 miles of the Jefferson National Forest, despite past federal court rulings that developers had failed to adequately consider the environmental impact of doing so, the AP reported.

What is the controversy surrounding the Mountain Valley Pipeline?

The project claims that the pipeline and natural gas are “critical in providing reliable and affordable energy…as the efficient development of renewable energy sources accelerates,” while the bill says it would “reduce carbon emissions and facilitate the energy transition.”

But while natural gas does emit about half as much carbon dioxide as coal and 30% less than oil, according to the environmental nonprofit Center for Climate Energy Solutions, emissions from natural gas combustion has increased nearly 43% since 2005. In 2021, natural gas combustion for energy made up just over a third of the nation’s energy-related carbon dioxide emissions, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Environmental group Oil Change International released an analysis in 2017 that found the pipeline would emit more than 89 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent every year — an amount that’s “like adding 26 coal plants or 19 million passenger vehicles,” the group said.

The EIA also explains that natural gas production can create a significant amount of “contaminated water” that, if not properly handled, stored and treated, could pollute land and waterways.

There are also environmental concerns. Since 2018, the construction of the pipeline has been subject to more than 70 complaint investigations, according to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, most recently one that found there was significant erosion around a portion of the site. There have also been complaints of “muddy runoff,” an eroded waterbar channel and sediment entering waterways.

The inclusion of this provision in the deal has outraged environmentalists. The environmental group Climate Defiance has planned protest Tuesday outside the Brooklyn, New York, home of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, whose second-largest contributor is NextEra Energy, one of the companies behind the joint venture of Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC. According to nonprofit campaign finance tracker OpenSecrets, Schumer received $302,600 from NextEra between 2017 and 2022.

Numerous environmental groups have been fighting against the pipeline’s approval over the past year and have issued statements about the provision.

“Singling out the Mountain Valley Pipeline for the approval in a vote about our nation’s credit limit is an egregious act,” Peter Anderson, Virginia policy director of environmental organization Appalachian Voices said in a statement. “By attempting to suspend the rules for a pipeline company that has repeatedly polluted communities’ water and flouted the conditions in its permits, the president and Congress would deny basic legal protections, procedural fairness and environmental justice to communities along the pipeline’s path.”

The Center for Biological Diversity called the bill a “colossal error,” and said it “limits the public’s ability to provide input on fossil fuel projects and other destructive developments that would harm the communities most burdened by pollution, while allowing corporate polluters to effectively rubberstamp the projects they’re proposing.”

Scott MacFarlane contributed to this report.

Li Cohen

Li Cohen is a social media producer and trending content writer for CBS News.

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West Virginia

Retiring Brigadier General of the West Virginia Army National Guard is celebrated – WV MetroNews

Published

7 hours ago

November 15, 2024

Press Room

Retiring Brigadier General of the West Virginia Army National Guard is celebrated – WV MetroNews

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The first female to become a general officer for the West Virginia Army National Guard in the history of the Mountain State is now saying goodbye after 30 years of service.

A retirement ceremony was held for Brigadier General Michaelle Munger at the state Culture Center Friday where National Guard and Army members, military and elected officials came together to wish her farewell.

Brig. Gen. Munger assumed her current duties as Special Assistant to the Adjutant General of West Virginia on October 1, 2021. A couple months later, she was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General on December 2, 2021, making her the first woman to become a general officer for the West Virginia National Guard.

Munger said it was a promotion that was a particular highlight in her 30 years of service.

Brig. Gen. Michaelle Munger

“That has been such an honor, because I feel like it has given some of our female soldiers hope that there’s opportunity, that they can do it,” Munger told MetroNews at Friday’s ceremony.

Munger has served in every component of the U.S. Army throughout the course of her career.

After serving 10 years in active Army, she then went on to complete two years in the Army Reserves before entering her final 15 years in the West Virginia National Guard.

Munger said it’s bittersweet to be coming to the end of her career, and also a little overwhelming to be leaving the structure the military has taught her.

“It’s a little surreal,” Munger said. “I think operating and maturing through the military for 30 years, sometimes I feel like leaving is stepping into a world of chaos, because I understand the structure and how the military operates.”

In 1994, Munger was commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps, serving in various roles, including working for the National Guard Bureau and serving at the Pentagon.

As the Special Assistant to the Adjutant General, Munger assists the Adjutant General in special projects such as the Joint Diversity Executive Council which seeks to create an organizational culture where diversity is valued.

She is also currently employed as a civilian as a Senior Environmental Scientist out of Gloucester, Virginia.

Munger told MetroNews that there has been a distinct difference within each of the roles she has served.

The most comparable differences she said has been between serving in active duty and serving in the National Guard here in West Virginia. Munger said where the active Army is so large, it was never as personal as coming to the Guard was for her.

“It’s a family, a lot of folks have entered together, they served almost their entire careers together, and there’s just a bond that’s super incredible to witness,” she said.

She said it was also amazing to experience just how the Guard supports their communities. In her time during the Guard, Munger said her work included helping with flood duties and mine rescues.

Also in 1994, through the Reserve Officer Training Course at Christopher Newport University in Newport, Virginia, Munger earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and a minor in Spanish. She then went on to earn her first Master of Science in Environmental Studies from California State University-Fullerton in Fullerton, California.

In addition, Munger completed the Joint Advanced Warfighting School (JAWS) at National Defense University, Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk, VA, where she also earned her second Master of Science in Campaign Planning and Strategy.

Munger said her biggest take-away of serving in the military for as long as she has is not only the structure that it taught her, but also the relations she has built with other members and leaders over the years.

“As long as I’ve been in, the people are what make it the best, and leadership is timeless, not matter through the ages and the changes of technology and personnel, everybody craves leaders, and I’m going to miss that aspect of hopefully being a great leader and an example,” Munger said.

Munger leaves her years of military service with a number of awards and decorations, some of which include the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal and Meritorious Service Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Superior Unit Award, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal, Army Staff Identification Badge and the recipient of the Military Order of St. Christopher Award, among several others.

Upon her retirement, Munger said she now plans to devote her time to her husband of 25-years, a Navy SEAL, their two children and family.

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West Virginia

WV Board of Ed: Kanawha Schools closures pass, Hope Scholarship under fire

Published

18 hours ago

November 15, 2024

Press Room

WV Board of Ed: Kanawha Schools closures pass, Hope Scholarship under fire

The West Virginia Board of Education approved the closure and consolidation of multiple Kanawha County schools, following input from Superintendent Tom Williams on challenges like declining enrollment and long bus routes. Board members, including Paul Hardesty and Nancy White, criticized the HOPE Scholarship program for its impact on public school funding.

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West Virginia

Judge rules in favor of restoring four victories to Spring Mills (West Virginia)

Published

1 day ago

November 14, 2024

Press Room

Judge rules in favor of restoring four victories to Spring Mills (West Virginia)

It’s been quite the last couple of weeks for the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission (WVSAAC) when it comes to high school football.

On Thursday, it got a lot more interesting in a hearing held in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

According to a report by Panhandle News Network’s Clint Gaige, a judge ruled in favor of restoring four victories to Spring Mills’ football program in lieu of having been slapped with forfeits due to having ruled playing with an ineligible player.

“Your rules need to get in line with federal law, which is why I am ruling in favor of the Spring Mills injunction,” Judge McLaughlin said to the WVSSAC in Thursday’s ruling per the MetroNews report.

Spring Mills self-reported the eligibility violation of Treshawn Garmon, 18, who was enrolled as a student at the school through protections of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. Per Gaige’s report, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act is a federal measure is aimed at protecting the educational rights of children who are homeless. The report also states the act requires a school system to remove barriers for homeless students to acquire educational opportunities, which includes extra curricular activities I.E. sports like football.

Per a MetroNews report, Garmon had moved to West Virginia back in the summer, but was wanted on charges of sexual assault back in Lee County, Georgia and was extradited back to Georgia in October to face charges of the sexual assault of a child.

Though Spring Mills now goes from 5-5 to 9-1, the team has no clue when exactly they’ll take the field for the postseason. The West Virginia high school football playoffs are officially on hold until further notice, due an injunction by Wood County regarding to the WVSSAC’s playoff formula rating.

Wood County’s injunction was upheld and four schools were displaced from the postseason brackets, which have now already seen more legal action taken by school boards which has officially delayed the WVSSAC playoffs.

“Then we would have competing injunctions. We can’t pick and choose which one we are going to follow. That would be up to a higher court to decide that. We would take a look next at what steps to take for that decision to be made. Hopefully it can be done quickly. If not, then we would have to look at possibly postponing or moving back a week or two until that decision is made. Those are all speculation at this point,” WVSSAC Executive Director David Price said in a report last week.

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— Andy Villamarzo | villamarzo@scorebooklive.com | @highschoolonsi

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