CHARLESTON – A three-judge panel denied a stay requested by environmental groups in an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals regarding the Mountain Valley Pipeline project.
The court ordered that the motions for stay be denied because the petitioners have not satisfied the stringent requirements for a stay pending court review, according to the Feb. 2 order.
The court further ordered that the petition for writ of mandamus be denied because the petitioners have not shown a clear and indisputable right to the extraordinary remedy of mandamus.
The court also ordered that the motion to dismiss be referred to the merits panel to which the consolidated cases were assigned.
“The parties are directed to address in their briefs the issues presented in the motion to dismiss, rather than incorporate those arguments by reference,” the order states.
Developers are planning to start work on the more than 300-mile project this month.
The environmental groups argued that the Federal energy Regulatory Commission never should have granted a certificate of public use for the pipeline project.
Also on Feb. 2, U.S. District Judge Irene Keeley granted approval for the pipeline project to immediately move ahead with eminent domain on properties along the project’s path in northern West Virginia counties.
In her memorandum opinion and order, Keeley ruled that after carefully considering the record and the parties’ arguments regarding the pending motions, the court denied the motion for stay of proceedings; granted MVP’s motion to strike, denied as moot the defendant’s motion to dismiss and granted MVP’s motion for partial summary judgment and immediate access to and possession of the easements condemned for construction of the project.
FERC gave permission in January for the pipeline project to start construction in Wetzel, Harrison, Doddridge, Lewis and Braxton counties.
The pipeline would go through Greenbrier, Monroe, Nicholas, Summers, Braxton, Harrison, Lewis, Webster and Wetzel counties in West Virginia. It is meant to deliver natural gas into southern Virginia.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit case number: 17-1271
