Virginia is levying a $179,000 fine over environmental violations from construction work as a major natural gas pipeline expands in southern Pittsylvania County.
The Transcontinental Gas Pipeline, owned by The Williams Companies, is a nearly 10,000-mile system that runs from Texas to New York. Williams is adding about 26 miles of additional pipeline in Pittsylvania as part of a larger project to increase how much natural gas the Transco line can carry from Chatham to points southeast.
The expansion is expected to be in service late next year. It also includes new pipeline and compressor stations in North Carolina and compressor station modifications in South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. Compressor stations increase the pressure of natural gas to keep it moving through a pipeline.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality said that inspections this past spring and summer revealed dozens of instances of improper controls to manage erosion, sediment and stormwater runoff at the Pittsylvania County work site. The DEQ enforces regulations to protect soil and water during construction.
Examples included missing or improperly installed waterbars, which redirect rainwater to prevent erosion, and missing perimeter controls around wetlands. A DEQ report described the severity of most of the problems as “marginal” or “moderate” but said the company had a “serious” level of culpability and had “repeat patterns of violations.”
“This is a large linear project with a sophisticated owner and many of the items were failures to comply with Transcontinental’s own plans,” DEQ staff, led by enforcement director Kristen Sadtler, wrote in an enforcement plan recommending the $179,000 fine.
The DEQ sent a warning in April and notices of violation in June. Williams paused much of its construction activity at the Pittsylvania site, worked to correct the violations, met with DEQ staff and retrained field personnel on environmental compliance.
Cherice Corley, a spokesperson for Williams, said in a statement to Cardinal News that the company “takes its environmental responsibilities seriously” and resumed construction activities after implementing corrective measures.
“We remain committed to working closely with regulators and constructing the project in accordance with all applicable environmental requirements,” Corley said.
A six-figure civil penalty from the DEQ is not common but not without precedent. Last year, the department levied penalties totaling nearly $121,000 on the solar developer Energix. Earlier this year, it cited the Alton Post Office Solar project in Halifax County to the tune of $106,000.
The DEQ posted a public notice about the Transcontinental Gas Pipeline penalty on Monday and is taking public comments until Sept. 9.
