Union sends Virginia senators letters supporting pipeline

A laborers union has sent hundreds of letters of support for the

to Virginia's senators.

The mid-Atlantic region of the Laborers' International Union of North America delivered nearly 1,600 letters from workers to U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner last week. It's the latest demonstration of union support for the

, which would carry natural gas across West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina.

A statement from the union says the pipeline would be "the biggest job-creating project" in Virginia in years.

"A lot of the people that are going to be building it are local residents that already have the training now or are going to get the training," said Justin Meighan, the assistant regional manager for LIUNA.

The Nelson County Times reports that more than 700 of the letters are from Virginia residents.

The letters were also submitted to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. FERC is

, which has

from environmental groups

.