The Biden administration is bucking environmentalists and joining Republicans in support of completing the Mountain Valley Pipeline — a 303-mile-long conduit that will deliver natural gas from West Virginia to Virginia.
U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar asked the Supreme Court on Friday to lift a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals injunction on the project. About 20 miles of the pipeline, begun in 2018, remain to be built.
After years of permitting procedures and litigation, Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC asked the high court to lift the latest injunction so the project could be finished before winter. The Biden administration supports that move.
The pipeline’s route cuts across the Appalachian Trail near the congressionally protected Peters Mountain Wilderness in Southwest Virginia.
Environmental groups such as the Wilderness Society and Appalachian Voices argued in their appellate court filing that Congress couldn’t authorize the pipeline and dictate jurisdiction over legal challenges because that would violate the Constitution’s separation of powers.
“Congress cannot pick winners and losers in pending litigation by compelling findings or results without supplying new substantive law for the courts to apply,” the groups said.
They said the U.S. Forest Service bent the rules to authorize the pipeline through the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia and West Virginia. They also said the pipeline clashes with the Endangered Species Act.
Representatives of the Wilderness Society and Appalachian Voices declined to comment on the high court petition.
Advocates of indigenous people have joined environmentalists over the years in protesting the pipeline, which was authorized in 2017.
In June, President Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act, requiring federal permits for the project to be issued by the end of that month.
The pipeline is scheduled for completion by the end of the year. A roughly 20-mile stretch remains if the 4th Circuit lifts its injunction.
The Biden administration has appealed to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who could either act alone or refer the matter to the full Supreme Court.
Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, supports the project, as do pro-energy Republicans. West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said the 4th Circuit overstepped its authority by blocking the construction.
“The Mountain Valley Pipeline is vital to the survival of American energy independence and affects thousands of jobs in West Virginia — its completion is also critical to our national security, the urgent need is for it to be completed as soon as possible,” Mr. Morrisey said.
Mr. Morrisey filed a brief with the Supreme Court arguing for the pipeline company, and so did House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, California Republican.
“The Fiscal Responsibility Act, in addition to being the largest deficit reduction package in American history, included additional reforms to get America back on track. One of those reforms is completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which is critical to the energy security of our country. Environmental groups are now trying to block the pipeline in violation of the law. But, as the amicus brief filed by the House of Representatives makes clear, Congress has spoken — the pipeline must be completed,” Mr. McCarthy said.
Virginia’s five Democratic members of the U.S. House took the side of the environmentalists in a separate court filing.
“The MVP has drawn community objections because it would extend roughly 300 miles through Appalachia, damage hundreds of streams, harm several acres of wetlands, and require a taking of private property from many Virginia families,” they argued.
Attorneys for the pipeline company argued that Congress authorized the project. They said the delivery of natural gas is in the nation’s interest and lawmakers set forth within legislation that legal challenges to the pipeline should be adjudicated at the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, not the 4th Circuit.
“MVP has only approximately three months to complete the Pipeline before winter weather sets in and precludes significant construction tasks until the spring of 2024,” attorneys for Mountain Valley Pipeline said in their filing. “Congress could not have been clearer that the national interest requires that the Pipeline be completed ‘expediti[ously].’”
The 4th Circuit halted authorization for work in the Jefferson National Forest earlier this month. Oral arguments are set for Thursday.
The $6.6 billion pipeline is expected to eventually meet energy demands throughout the mid-Atlantic region.
⦁ This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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