The Supreme Court lifted a lower court injunction on the Mountain Valley Pipeline on Thursday, allowing construction to continue on the nearly complete 303-mile natural gas conduit between West Virginia and Virginia.
The high court granted the Biden administration’s request to lift an injunction imposed by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which was weighing arguments in a lawsuit brought by environmental groups and American Indian tribes.
In seeking the injunction’s end, the Biden administration bucked environmentalists and joined the Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC and Republicans in calling for the completion of the $6.6 billion project, which was begun in 2018.
About 20 miles of the pipeline remain to be built, and its completion is expected by the end of the year.
West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey applauded the high court’s decision on Thursday.
“I am pleased the Supreme Court recognized the importance of this project not only for West Virginia, but for the nation,” Mr. Morrisey said. “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.”
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, had 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.
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.
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 will transport natural gas from the Marcellus and Utica fields in Pennsylvania and Ohio. The 4th Circuit’s injunction that halted work on the pipeline in the Jefferson National Forest earlier this month.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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