A West Virginia official says a North Carolina man protesting the Mountain Valley Pipeline has been charged with a felony.

Monroe County Circuit Court deputy clerk Andrea Preston

that 22-year-old Holden Dometrius was charged Thursday with threat of terrorist acts after chaining himself to a piece of equipment in the pipeline's path. He also faces lesser charges of trespassing, obstructing and tampering with a vehicle.

According to the group Appalachians Against Pipelines, it is the first felony charge against a protester.

The Mountain Valley Pipeline is a 300-mile (483-kilometer) natural gas pipeline that is being constructed in West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina. It has used eminent domain to acquire project space.

It wasn't immediately clear whether Dometrius has an attorney.