In a major development, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) can proceed with construction despite a lower court’s ruling against it.
Environmental groups, including the Wilderness Society and Appalachian Voices, filed a lawsuit to stop the pipeline construction. Initially, the 4th Circuit ruling sided with the environmental groups until the Supreme Court stepped in.
MVP is a natural gas pipeline under construction in the United States from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia. The completed pipeline would have a capacity of 2 million dekatherms (Dts) of natural gas per day (approximately 200 TWh per year), with a large quantity of that gas being produced from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.
US Supreme Court removes obstacle to Mountain Valley Pipeline https://t.co/gm5RrsgMIw pic.twitter.com/amvcdMZBa7
— Reuters (@Reuters) July 27, 2023
The MVP project was first proposed in 2014, and construction began in 2017. However, the project has been met with significant opposition from environmental groups and landowners, who have raised concerns about the pipeline’s impact on water resources, wildlife, and public health.
The MVP project has been controversial since its inception, and it is likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. Supporters of the project argue that it will provide a much-needed source of natural gas for the Mid-Atlantic region, while opponents argue that it is unnecessary and will have a number of negative environmental impacts.
The Department of Justice responded to the Supreme Court ruling by saying, “Whatever benefit respondents or the court of appeals might believe would be gained by having the agencies again reconsider the challenged actions, Congress has determined that further reconsideration is unwarranted and has prioritized MVP’s ‘timely’ completion over interests addressed by any other federal statutes.”
“The 300-mile-long pipeline would transport gas from West Virginia’s Marcellus and Utica shale areas to Virginia,” the statement continued. “The pipeline would cross waterways and federal national forest lands, which is why it went through a complex environmental permitting process and led to multiple lawsuits,” according to CNN.
Supreme Court allows construction of Mountain Valley Pipeline to continuehttps://t.co/9ymEPzGUJp pic.twitter.com/dhjy5Xoi6b
— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) July 28, 2023
“The project has been severely delayed, in part, because several of the court challenges were upheld by the Virginia-based 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which has repeatedly tossed the project’s permits, citing environmental violations,” CNN reported.
“In June, however, members of Congress came together under debt ceiling negotiations to pass the Fiscal Responsibility Act, known as Section 324, mandating the completion of the pipeline and stripping jurisdiction of courts to hear challenges regarding federal approvals of the project,” the outlet added.
“President Joe Biden signed it into law on June 3. Environmental groups such as the Wilderness Society, argued that Congress had exceeded its authority in passing the law. On July 10, the appeals court entered an order freezing construction and agreed to expedite the case,” the report said.
Don Verrilli, a lawyer for the supporters of the project, said, “Time is of the essence.”
If the project remains on hold, this will “prevent the Pipeline from being placed in service by the end of the year,” which will add billions of dollars of losses already incurred “as a result of prior litigation asking to prevent the Pipeline from being built.,” Verrilli said.
