RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia board has granted a waterbody crossing permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
The Roanoke Times reports that the State Water Control Board voted 3-2 on Tuesday to grant a permit for the natural gas pipeline to cross about 150 streams and wetlands in southwest Virginia.
The pipeline still needs a similar permit from West Virginia and federal approval.
The planned 303-mile pipeline will take natural gas drilled from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations and transport it through West Virginia and Virginia.
The project has faced legal challenges from environmental groups.
A 75-mile extension into central North Carolina also has been proposed.