First proposed in early 2018, the Mountain Valley Pipeline Southgate project is an extension of the main, 303-mile natural-gas line the company is currently working to construct through West Virginia and Virginia. The Southgate addition, as planned, would run through Rockingham and Alamance counties, ending southeast of Graham. Last week, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality denied the project’s 401 Individual Water Quality Certification, a key permit that would have moved the pipeline one step closer to construction. The company now has 60 days to appeal the decision.

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