Regulators want to hear from public on pipeline reviews

A panel of Virginia regulators wants to hear from the public about whether they believe the water quality approvals granted for two natural gas pipelines are adequate to protect the state's waterways.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports the State Water Control Board on Thursday approved a 30-day period to solicit comment on the approvals granted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast pipelines.

Critics have argued the corps' review process was overly broad and that the Department of Environmental Quality should have done a stream-by-stream study.

The department has said the review it did undertake, combined with the corps' work, will be adequately protective.

Asked how the public can weigh in and what will happen at the end of the comment period, DEQ spokeswoman Ann Regn told The Associated Press Friday that additional information will be available "in the near future."