Communities at risk? Opponents speak out against pipeline proposed in Virginia, N.C.

An operator submitted an application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission today for a methane gas pipeline proposed for Virginia and North Carolina.

Williams Companies submitted the application for the Transco Pipeline Expansion, also known as the Southeast Supply Enhancement Project, part of a massive expansion of gas infrastructure proposed for the Southeast.

Community members have expressed concern about the project’s impact to local water resources including the Banister and Dan rivers.

“Across the Southeast, pipeline companies and utilities are proposing billions of dollars in new fossil fuel infrastructure that will end up costing consumers and putting communities at risk from pollution and explosion dangers,” said Jessica Sims, Virginia Field Coordinator for Appalachian Voices. “It’s long past time for FERC to stop rubberstamping pipelines without fully taking into account the threats they pose to communities, the environment and our climate.”

The Transco project would include 26 miles of pipeline in Pittsylvania County and 28 miles of pipeline in North Carolina. Gas compression station expansions are planned in Cleveland, Iredell and Davidson counties.

Williams Companies wants to begin construction in fall of 2026 and begin service by the end of 2027.

“Today, Transco applied to the federal government to construct SSEP, a giant new methane pipeline, across the Southeast,” said Dr. Crystal Cavalier-Keck, co-founder of 7 Directions of Service. “Its construction — like every pipeline in history — will permanently damage all in its path, from streams and rivers, to farms and soil, and cultural sites. Our growing opposition stands united and ready to defend the rights of rivers and communities against Transco’s SSEP and to ensure this unnecessary project is never built.”

Those along the route in Virginia and Rockingham County, N.C., also face another pipeline, called Southgate, a co-located extension of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. A 3,500-megawatt methane gas plant from Balico, LLC, has been recently proposed in Chatham.