RICHMOND — The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) public comment period regarding the Section 401 water quality conditions for the proposed Atlantic Coast (ACP) has closed and is not being extended.

A DEQ release cited the agency has received about 20,000 comments, including technical comments and reports, signed petitions and comments about the pipelines.

“At this time, DEQ is focused on reviewing the comments received,” officials said in the release. “Each one will be reviewed and considered by DEQ.”

The release cited when the agency has completed its review and prepared a summary of the comments, DEQ will prepare draft responses to the comments and recommendations for the State Water Control Board’s consideration at a meeting this fall.

The ACP — being led by Dominion — is a 600-mile natural gas pipeline that would begin in West Virginia, span Virginia and end in North Carolina. A 42-inch pipeline would span Buckingham County, and cross Cumberland and Prince Edward counties. The project has been hotly contested in Buckingham.