CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — On Friday, the U.S. Forest Service published its Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) for the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a proposed 303-mile, buried, fracked gas pipeline that would run through Virginia and West Virginia.

The results of the FSEIS allow for the pipeline to be built across about 3.5 miles of the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia, causing groups like the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) to voice their concerns.

We are gravely disappointed in the Forest Service’s decision to allow the Mountain Valley Pipeline to rip through the cherished Jefferson National Forest. With this decision, the Forest Service is not fulfilling its mission to ‘sustain the health of the nation’s forests’ so as to ‘meet the needs of present and future generations.’ Present and future generations need a pristine environment and a stable climate, not a fracked-gas pipeline that destroys forests, pollutes waterways, and exacerbates global warming. CCAN is committed to ensuring that no gas ever flows through the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Anne Havemann, General Counsel for CCAN

The CCAN said in a release that it submitted more than 4,000 comments from its supporters in opposition to the pipeline’s construction, including several hundred during the Forest Service comment period.

The CCAN also said that it believes the construction of large, new fossil fuel projects does not line up with national climate goals and global commitments, including those set by President Joe Biden, who pledged to reduce emissions by 50% by 2030.

The pipeline already ran into another issue last week when a crucial water permit for the construction of the pipeline in West Virginia was thrown out. At the time, Sen. Joe Manchin (D, WV) made the following statement:

It is infuriating to see the same 4th Circuit Court panel deal yet another setback for the Mountain Valley Pipeline project and once again side with activists who seem hell-bent on killing any fossil energy that will make our country energy independent and secure.

This is just one of several roadblocks as the pipeline has had several permits vacated and issued by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals over the past several weeks, according to the CCAN. Industry analysts are now skeptical of the originally-planned 2023 in-service date.