Supreme Court allows construction to resume on Mountain Valley Pipeline

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed construction to resume on a contested natural-gas pipeline that is being built through Virginia and West Virginia.

Work on the Mountain Valley Pipeline had been blocked by the federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., even after Congress ordered the project’s approval as part of the bipartisan bill to increase the debt ceiling. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law in June.

The pipeline, which is being developed by Canonsburg-based Equitrans Midstream, will transport natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica shale plays in Pennsylvania and Ohio to the markets in the mid-Atlantic and Southeast.

The high court’s order came as a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was hearing arguments in the case.

The Biden administration backed the company in calling for the Supreme Court’s intervention.

Lawyers for the company said they needed quick Supreme Court action to keep plans on track to finish building the 303-mile pipeline and put it into service by the winter, when the need for natural gas for heating grows.

Environmental groups have opposed the the $6.6 billion project, designed to meet growing energy demands in the South and Mid-Atlantic by transporting gas from the Marcellus and Utica.

In mid-May, the U.S. Forest Service reissued its approval for a permit, despite past federal appeals court rulings determining developers had “inadequately considered” the project’s environmental impact.

In previous litigation, the 4th U.S. Court of Appeals has twice vacated U.S. Forest Service decisions allowing for the pipeline in the Jefferson National Forest.

Mountain Valley Pipeline said the work is largely complete, except for a 3-mile section that cuts through the Jefferson National Forest.

“We are grateful for the quick action of the United States Supreme Court in vacating the previously issued stay orders regarding the Mountain Valley Pipeline project,” Equitrans said in a statement to the Tribune-Review. “We are also grateful for the unwavering support of the administration and for the excellent and persuasive advocacy of the solicitor general; as well as for the many well-reasoned and supportive amicus briefs filed by MVP’s shippers, end-users, union workers, industry associations, and by elected officials who recognize the importance of the project.”

Tribune-Review staff writer Stephanie Ritenbaugh contributed to this report.