US Supreme Court removes obstacle to Mountain Valley Pipeline (updated)

RGC Resources

27/07/2023 15:55

(Adds background on case, paragraphs 3-12)
    By John Kruzel
       WASHINGTON, July 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court
on Thursday removed an obstacle to completing the long-delayed
Mountain Valley Pipeline, dealing a blow to environmental groups
opposed to the West Virginia-to-Virginia pipeline led by energy
company Equitrans Midstream  ETRN.N .
    The justices granted Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC's request
to lift stays imposed by a lower court that had halted
construction of a final short section of the 303-mile (488-km)
natural gas pipeline. That section is a 3.5-mile (5.6-km)
corridor through the federally owned Jefferson National Forest.
    The $6.6 billion project has been tangled in numerous court
fights since construction began in 2018. Mountain Valley is
owned by units of Equitrans Midstream, the lead partner building
the pipeline, as well as NextEra Energy  NEE.N , Consolidated
Edison  ED.N , AltaGas  ALA.TO  and RGC Resources  RGCO.O ,
among others.
    The Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals earlier this month blocked construction of the final
unfinished section while it reviewed the project's federal
approvals.
    The pipeline received authorization from the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission in June to restart construction. The
pipeline is considered key to unlocking more gas supplies from
Appalachia, the biggest shale gas-producing basin in the United
States. It aims to deliver gas to existing pipelines and service
other customers in the U.S. mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions.
    Environmentalists have said the project would harm soil and
water quality in the forest and increase the use of natural gas,
a leading fossil fuel and greenhouse gas emitter.
    The project, which was initially projected to be finished by
late 2018, is one of several pipelines that have been delayed or
canceled amid regulatory and legal fights with environmental and
local groups in recent years. 
    Approval of the Mountain Valley project was included in the
debt limit deal struck in May between President Joe Biden, a
Democrat, and House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a
Republican. Its inclusion was championed by Democratic Senator
Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a key vote in the Senate and one
of the largest recipients in Congress of donations from fossil
fuel companies.
    Manchin, who filed a brief urging the justices to lift the
construction delay, said in a statement, "We cannot let this
continue any longer."
    Mountain Valley told the justices in a filing that the 4th
Circuit lacked authority to stay the construction because the
debt deal approved by Congress had given final approval to the
project and "expressly stripped all courts" of jurisdiction to
review decisions by federal agencies over its approval.
    The Biden administration filed a brief to the justices
supporting the pipeline developers. 
    Environmental groups opposed to the project argued that
Congress had exceeded its authority by enacting a law that "was
tailored to mandate victory" for the pipeline developers and
federal government.

 (Reporting by John Kruzel; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
 ((John.Kruzel@thomsonreuters.com;))