A federal appeals court is not convinced environmental groups are likely to prevail in their legal fight over key permits for the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline expansion project.
On Thursday, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion outlining its rationale for declining to stop construction on the Mountain Valley Southgate extension earlier this spring. The stay would have prevented work on the project until the court decided whether Virginia and North Carolina regulators properly certified that the project complied with state water quality standards.
The April order also lifted an administrative stay that had temporarily blocked work on the 31-mile pipeline extending the mainline pipe from southern Virginia into North Carolina. Mountain Valley told federal energy regulators last month that it was beginning construction on the Virginia portion of the pipeline, shortly after release of the 4th Circuit’s order.
Three 4th Circuit judges, all appointed by former President Barack Obama, expressed doubts about the claims raised by the Sierra Club, Appalachian Voices and other challengers in two separate cases before the court.
