Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) is not taking a ludicrous, outrageous lawsuit by anti-pipeline residents from West Virginia and Virginia lying down. They are fighting mad as recent court filings show. MVP is a $3.5 billion, 301-mile pipeline that will run from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA. A lawsuit was filed in federal court at the end of July to block the MVP project (see New Lawsuit Against Mountain Valley Pipe Seeks to Emasculate FERC). The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Roanoke, VA, seeks to block the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) from doing its job by issuing a certificate to approve MVP. The plaintiffs claim FERC would be violating the U.S. Constitution by approving a private project that “takes” private land without just compensation. The plaintiffs maintain that according to the Constitution, land can only be taken for “public use” and that the pipeline is for private use, not for the public good. That’s the claim. As we said at the time, “If these virulent antis win this case, it would emasculate FERC–take away its authority to approve major interstate pipeline projects.” MVP in a court filing last Friday (full copy below) said pretty much the same thing. MVP says in their filing the lawsuit asks the court to invalidate the Natural Gas Act–the law of the land–which would have the effect of stopping all pipeline projects being built. The outcome of this lawsuit is already preordained. The lawsuit will get tossed. The only question is, how fast?…
