Jul 14, 2023
Mountain Valley Pipeline Builder Asks Supreme Court to Let Work Resume
Bloomberg News
,![BENT MOUNTAIN, VIRGINIA - AUGUST 31: Sections of 42 diameter sections of steel pipe of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, MVP, lie on wooden blocks, August 31, 2022 in Bent Mountain, Virginia. The MVP will transport natural gas through 303 miles of West Virginia and Virginia. Public opposition has centered on challenging MVPs permitting through wetlands and national forests. The original budget of $3.5 billion is now estimated to be $6.2 billion. The Federal Energy Regulatory Control agency, FERC, has recently granted MVP another 4-years to complete. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images), Photographer: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images BENT MOUNTAIN, VIRGINIA - AUGUST 31: Sections of 42 diameter sections of steel pipe of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, MVP, lie on wooden blocks, August 31, 2022 in Bent Mountain, Virginia. The MVP will transport natural gas through 303 miles of West Virginia and Virginia. Public opposition has centered on challenging MVPs permitting through wetlands and national forests. The original budget of $3.5 billion is now estimated to be $6.2 billion. The Federal Energy Regulatory Control agency, FERC, has recently granted MVP another 4-years to complete. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images)](/polopoly_fs/1.1946039.1689370893!/fileimage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/bent-mountain-virginia-august-31-sections-of-42-diameter-sections-of-steel-pipe-of-the-mountain-valley-pipeline-mvp-lie-on-wooden-blocks-august-31-2022-in-bent-mountain-virginia-the-mvp-will-transport-natural-gas-through-303-miles-of-west-virginia-and-virginia-public-opposition-has-centered-on-challenging-mvps-permitting-through-wetlands-and-national-forests-the-original-budget-of-3-5-billion-is-now-estimated-to-be-6-2-billion-the-federal-energy-regulatory-control-agency-ferc-has-recently-granted-mvp-another-4-years-to-complete-photo-by-robert-nickelsberg-getty-images.jpg)
(Bloomberg) -- Equitrans Midstream Corp. asked the US Supreme Court to allow it to resume construction on its controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline after a federal appeals court issued a pair of orders blocking the $6.6 billion project earlier this week.
The company urged Chief Justice John Roberts to lift a pair of orders issued by the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which came despite language in recently enacted debt-ceiling legislation intended to prevent the pipeline from being stalled by the court. The company has said the pipeline, which has backing from West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, may not meet its goal of being completed by the end of this year unless the court’s orders are quickly reversed.
The route for the roughly 300-mile (480-kilometer) pipeline runs through the Appalachian Mountains, a national forest and across hundreds of streams as it carries natural gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia. It has drawn fierce opposition from environmentalists.
Roberts is the justice assigned to handle emergency matters from the 4th Circuit. He could act on his own or refer the request to the full nine-member court.
Read More: Court Stalls Pipeline That Joe Manchin Thought It Couldn’t Touch
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