Appeals court again blocks construction on Mountain Valley Pipeline
A federal appeals court has again blocked construction on a segment of a contentious natural gas pipeline being built through Virginia and West Virginia
FALLS CHURCH, Va. — A federal appeals court has again blocked construction on a segment of a contentious natural gas pipeline being built through Virginia and West Virginia, this time doing so even after Congress ordered the project's approval.
The stay issued Monday by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond comes after Congress passed legislation last month requiring all necessary permits be issued for construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline. The law also stripped the 4th Circuit from jurisdiction over the case.
Environmentalists, though, argued that Congress overstepped its authority by enacting the law, saying it violates the separation of powers outlined in the Constitution.
“Congress cannot pick winners and losers in pending litigation by compelling findings or results without supplying new substantive law for the courts to apply,” lawyers for the environmentalists wrote in court papers.
The law was passed last month as part of a bipartisan bill to raise the debt ceiling. The provision that deals exclusively with the Mountain Valley Pipeline was included after negotiators failed to reach an agreement on broader regulatory reform.
The White House supported putting the provision in the debt ceiling bill — over the objections of environmentalists and some Democrats — as a concession to Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat and pipeline supporter who was a key vote for last year’s sweeping legislation that included deep investments in climate programs.
The stay issued Monday focuses on a 3-mile section of pipeline that cuts through the Jefferson
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