Federal Court Issues “Stay” to Halt the Mountain Valley Pipeline Construction During Appeal

by S. Tom Bond on November 11, 2020

MVP construction has been active recently

Conservation groups applaud court’s suspension of Mountain Valley Pipeline construction

From the Press Release of Appalachian Voices, November 9, 2020

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals today sided with conservation groups and issued an immediate stay of Mountain Valley Pipeline’s stream and wetland crossing permits in southern West Virginia and Virginia. The groups, noting the company’s stated rush to resume construction and the serious environmental harms likely to result, had asked the court for the stay while it considered the merits of their challenge of the water-crossing permits issued by the Corps of Engineers.

The eight groups, represented by Appalachian Mountain Advocates, filed a challenge of the Corps’ reissuance on September 25 of two “Nationwide Permit 12” approvals that would allow MVP, LLC to trench through some 1,000 streams, rivers, wetlands and other water bodies in the two states. The 4th Circuit had rejected the Corps’ first round of permit approvals in 2018.

As noted in the groups’ filings, Mountain Valley Pipeline’s operator recently told its investors that it intends to blast and trench through “critical” streams “as quickly as possible before anything is challenged.”

The court had issued an emergency stay October 16; today’s stay remains in effect until it rules on the groups’ petition to overturn the Corps’ water permits for the MVP project.

The groups filing the challenge include Appalachian Voices, Center for Biological Diversity, Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Indian Creek Watershed Association, Sierra Club, West Virginia Highlands Conservancy, West Virginia Rivers Coalition, and Wild Virginia.

>>> Peter Anderson, Virginia Program Manager, Appalachian Voices:
“Communities along the pipeline route have been on edge these past several weeks as the company has moved in heavy equipment and started doing work, so we’re very glad the court pressed pause on this permit while the water-crossing issues are reviewed further.”

>>> David Sligh, Conservation Director, Wild Virginia:
“Once again, the court has shown that it sees the dire threat this dangerous and damaging project poses to our precious waters and vulnerable communities. Convincing a court to stay an agency decision requires plaintiffs to convince the judges that they have a good chance to prove their case after full review. Now, we look forward to doing just that — to show conclusively that the Corps of Engineers abdicated its duty to protect us and our resources.”

>>> Anne Havemann, General Counsel, Chesapeake Climate Action Network:
“The companies behind the Mountain Valley Pipeline have proven countless times that they are unfit to build this pipeline safely, with hundreds of violations and thousands of dollars in fines already. They’ve done nothing to prove that future construction won’t result in the same. We applaud the court for standing on the right side of history and issuing this stay.”

>>> Joan Walker, Senior Campaign Representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign:
“The MVP has already doubled its timeline and budget, and it’s not even close to being finished. If they were smart, they would quit throwing good money after bad and walk away from this fracked gas disaster like Duke Energy and Dominion Energy did with the Atlantic Coast Pipeline.”

>>> Jared Margolis, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity:
“This decision will help ensure the pipeline doesn’t keep posing catastrophic threats to waterways that people and imperiled species depend on to survive. Despite the project’s clear failure to comply with the law, Mountain Valley keeps pushing this climate-killing menace. We’ll continue working to ensure this destructive pipeline doesn’t poison waters and threaten communities along its route.”

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See also: ‘Less-than-ideal bedfellows’: Mountain Valley Pipeline payout to Appalachian Trail Conservancy prompts criticism, Elizabeth McGown, Energy News Network, October 5, 2020

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy expected scrutiny for accepting a $19.5 million gift from the MVP pipeline’s developers but believes time will show it was the right decision.

{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }

Richard Allan November 14, 2020 at 11:11 am

Subject: Mountain Valley Pipeline is tanking — Disinvest now

TO: JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, TD, PNC, Union Bank, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and U.S. Bank.

Dear CEOs Dimon, Moynihan, Masrani, Demchak, Cummings, Stumpf, Corbat and Cecere-

Have you ever even SEEN the slopes on the MVP route you are invested in? As a former pipeline welder I assure you that long-pipestick runs at greater than 45 degrees guarantees ruptures and pollution. Chase, BoA,TD,PNC,Fargo,Citi & MUFG will be left holding the bag for repairs. It will be a disaster for your investors and reflect on you personally. Three years of delays, huge cost overruns.I urge you. Disinvest MVP now!

Your truly, Richard Allan

PS to Mssrs Dimon and Moynihan: Until Chase decided to invest billions more $$$ into hydrocarbons, and until BoA plundered the savings of disadvantaged homeowners with mortgage-loan pleas, I was your customer. Out here in the heartland what you did really hurt our feelings and wallets.

– Richard H. “Freeman” Allan III, Charlottesville VA 22911

>> Independent Scholar – Virginia Foundation for the Humanities; Author; Researcher; Iconologist; Environmental Activist

[Aim to serve others and Planet Earth. Try a smaller footprint. Laugh more! Need less stuff.]

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