Mountain Valley Advances Some Claims Against Pipeline Protester

Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC can proceed with trespass and tortious interference claims against a protester who chained himself to pipeline equipment.

But the natural gas company’s allegation that the single protester was part of a broader conspiracy fails since Mountain Valley didn’t name any other parties who shared a common plan, Chief Judge Thomas S. Kleeh of the US District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia wrote in a Monday opinion.

Mountain Valley has authorization from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to construct and operate a new natural gas pipeline from West Virginia to Virginia. In November ...