Supreme Court Allows Mountain Valley Pipeline Construction To Continue

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will not order a pause in construction on a portion of the 300-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) that runs through a Virginia landowner’s property.

The MVP, which is set for early 2024 completion, will deliver clean, affordable energy from Appalachian shale reserves to customers in the eastern United States.

The justices did not provide a reason for denying the application.

Last week’s decision came after a July ruling by the Supreme Court that threw out an injunction by a lower court that had halted construction on the MVP. That earlier decision had allowed construction to restart on the project, which, up to that point, had been stalled for more than a year due to legal battles.

In November, the landowners, whose property was taken by eminent domain for the MVP, sent an emergency injunction to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. seeking a pause in building while their case is heard by a lower court. The landowners had refused to sell their properties to MVP, but, in 2017, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) granted a certificate of public convenience and necessity to the company that is building the project.

Click here to read more.