North Carolina regulators denied, for the second time, a request to extend the Mountain Valley Pipeline into the state. Environmental groups hailed the decision, the latest in a series of setbacks for the already behind schedule and over budget gas pipeline. The rejection of MVP Southgate comes less than two months after a federal appeals court sent the case back to the state Department of Environmental Quality for further review and to explain its denial of key water quality certifications for the controversial pipeline project. Among concerns over “avoidable and unnecessary impacts” to North Carolina waterways, the DEQ also said it would not issue a permit for the Southgate expansion until the main section of the pipeline, through Virginia, is completed, citing “MVP’s well-documented compliance issues related to work performed on the Mainline Project led to a stop work order issued by the State of Virginia.”

“It’s long past time for MVP to see the writing on the wall and walk away from this project once and for all,” Sierra Club organizing representative Caroline Hansley said in a statement. (Politico Pro $, Roanoke Times)