ROANOKE, Va. (AP) - Environmental groups are asking a federal court to stop construction from resuming on the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
The Roanoke Times reports that the Sierra Club and seven other groups filed petitions late Monday with the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond.
They’re asking the court to stay recently issued permits that allow the natural gas pipeline to burrow under streams and wetlands. The groups would like the court to hear their challenge of the authorizations.
Late last month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had reissued the stream crossing permits after a two-year review.
Derek Teaney, an attorney who represents the environmental groups, claims that the Army Corps made fatal flaws in giving Mountain Valley the go ahead to cross nearly 1,000 water bodies in Virginia and West Virginia.
Mountain Valley told the appeals court that it would hold off on any stream crossings until at least Oct. 17 if it and the Army Corps are given until Friday to respond to the filing by environmental groups. The court agreed to the extension.
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