Mountain Valley Pipeline Developer Weighs Supreme Court Appeal

Mountain Valley Pipeline developer Equitrans Midstream Corp. is considering filing an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court following the Fourth Circuit’s decision to pause the project’s construction in Virginia’s Jefferson National Forest.

Equitrans was “disappointed” with the decision, saying the court defied the “will and clear intent” of Congress and the Biden administration that passed legislation to complete the project. “We believe the Court also exceeded its authority, as Congress expressly and plainly removed its jurisdiction,” the company said Tuesday in a statement.

“Further, the fact that the Court issued the stay prior to receiving full briefing from the federal government and Mountain Valley is particularly telling and demonstrates why Congressional intervention was appropriate,” the company said. “We are evaluating all legal options, which include filing an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

On Monday, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit temporarily blocked construction of a portion of the pipeline in a case brought by the Wilderness Society. The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday also granted a stay to environmental groups led by Appalachian Voices in another case challenging the more than 300-mile gas project stretching from northwestern West Virginia to southern Virginia.

The court in that case halted the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s biological opinion and incidental take statement under the Endangered Species Act, which is used to determine impacts on endangered species and critical habitats—and had been petitioned for review in April.

On June 26, organizations including Appalachian Voices, the Sierra Club, and the Center for Biological Diversity pushed back against the Interior Department’s motion to dismiss the case and called the provisions of the debt-limit law protecting the project unconstitutional.

The Wilderness Society echoed those arguments in their own case.

The Interior Department and Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC argued on Monday in both cases that the court didn’t have jurisdiction due to the language in the debt-limit law.

Appalachian Voices claimed that language only applies to new challenges to the project, not litigation prior to the law’s passage on June 3. The Wilderness Society said the court has jurisdiction because their claim has to do with environmental statutes and falls under the Administrative Procedure Act.

The Sierra Club has received funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable organization founded by Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg Law is operated by entities controlled by Michael Bloomberg.

The Southern Environmental Law Center represents the Wilderness Society. The respondents in that case are represented by the Justice Department, and Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC is represented by Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP and Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP.

Appalachian Voices and the other petitioners are represented by the Sierra Club, Appalachian Mountain Advocates, and the Center for Biological Diversity. The respondents in that case are also represented by the Justice Department, and Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC is represented by Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, Beveridge & Diamond PC, Holland & Hart LLP, and Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP.

The cases are Appalachian Voices v. United States Department of the Interior, 4th Cir., No. 23-01384, 7/11/23 and Wilderness Society v. Bureau of Land Management, 4th Cir., No. 23-01594, 7/10/23.