Richmond, Va. - Hundreds of opponents against the natural gas pipeline rallied in the capital of Virginia on Saturday, awaiting critical regulatory decisions to be made.

According to the "Richmond Times" report, the Virginia Water Control Commission is expected to vote on Tuesday whether to allow the construction of some valley pipelines on wetlands and more than 200 waterways in Virginia.

Pastor William Barber, the civil rights leader of North Carolina, told the crowd in Bird Park that a project like the proposed pipeline is "a crime of abuse" that will harm the poor.

The planned 303-mile pipeline will transport natural gas extracted from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations to West Virginia and Virginia. It is also proposed to extend 75 miles to central North Carolina.

Barber is now the head of the National Destruction Repairers Movement. He pointed out how the developer of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline cancelled the project in 2020 because of strong opposition from environmental groups and residents along some of the routes.

"We have to fight a pipeline," Barber said. "They should already know that Virginians don't have these things. West Virginians don't have it. North Carolina people don't have it. They must not know who we are, but they will learn."

Mountain Valley Pipeline spokesperson Natalie Cox called Barber's information about the project's guilt as "an unknowing and unproductive comment." Cox added that the pipeline "is designed to provide reliable, affordable, clean-burning natural gas to homes and businesses in Virginia and throughout the eastern United States."

Earlier this month, the Virginia Air Pollution Control Commission voted against permission to build a gas compressor station in a county bordering North Carolina, and the proposed expansion plan for North Carolina took a hit.