In West Finley Township, Washington County, a longwall coal mine is headed toward four buried natural gas pipelines, and the pipeline company wants to dig them up before the ground starts to move. The state has restarted the public comment clock on the permit, and comments are due October 5.
MarkWest Liberty Midstream has applied for a Chapter 105 water obstruction permit to “daylight” four natural gas pipelines, from 8 to 20 inches in diameter, ahead of longwall coal mining in West Finley Township, Washington County. DEP restarted the comment period after the original notice listed the wrong county. Comments are due October 5, 2026.
What daylighting means, and why a mine triggers it
Longwall mining removes an entire seam of coal in one continuous panel, and the land above it sinks, often several feet, in a process called subsidence. A rigid buried pipeline caught in subsiding ground can bend, buckle, or rupture. Daylighting is the standard precaution: the operator excavates the pipeline, exposes it to the open air while the mining passes underneath, and reburies it after the ground settles. The project covers four MarkWest lines, the 8-inch Majorsville Houston, the 12-inch Hamilton Wilhelm, the 16-inch Majorsville Welling, and the 20-inch Majorsville Welling.
Where streams come into it
The reason this needs a Chapter 105 permit, the same permit category that covers dams and stream encroachments, is that the excavation work crosses streams and wetlands. Trenching along miles of pipeline right of way means open earth near water, temporary crossings, and the risk of sediment moving downstream during storms. West Finley Township sits in the far southwest corner of Washington County, in headwaters country where small tributaries drain toward Wheeling Creek and the Ohio River. That is why the permit comes with a public comment period, and why nearby groups may want to read the application.
How to comment
Comments go to DEP’s Southwest Oil and Gas Management Program. Email them to RA-EPSW-OGSUBMISSION@pa.gov or mail them to 400 Waterfront Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. No public hearing is currently scheduled, but one can be requested during the comment period. Useful comments point at specifics: which stream crossings concern you, what erosion and sedimentation controls should be required, and how restoration of the crossings will be verified after the work is done.
Why it matters for the rest of us
Southwestern Pennsylvania is one of the few places in the country where active longwall mining, a dense web of gas infrastructure, and headwater streams all occupy the same ground. Projects like this one are becoming routine as mining panels advance under gas country, and each one is a chance for watershed groups to get protective conditions written into the permit rather than argue about damage afterward. Even a short comment letter puts your group on the record and on the notification list for what comes next.
Source: PA Environment Digest, September 4, 2026, summarizing the DEP notice in the September 5, 2026 Pennsylvania Bulletin. Comments due October 5, 2026.
