Supreme Court Clears the Way for Pipeline as Appeal Moves Forward
The Supreme Court on Thursday temporarily cleared the way for construction of a 300-mile pipeline capable of carrying two billion cubic feet of natural gas daily from northern West Virginia to southern Virginia.
In lifting a stay on the pipeline, the court issued a brief order that gave no reasons, which is typical when the justices act on emergency applications. The order was provisional, and the case will move forward in the lower courts.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline, which has cost more than $6 billion, has been the subject of years of legal challenges from environmental groups and is nearing completion.
A provision concerning the pipeline was tucked into legislation enacted in June to raise the debt limit. The provision, championed by Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, barred most legal challenges to the construction and said challenges to the provision itself must be brought in a federal appeals court in Washington.