The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with lawyers from Mountain Valley Pipeline on Friday, dismissing challenges to construction permits for the project by environmental groups.
The U.S. Supreme Court last month allowed construction to resume after the 4th Circuit had halted work on MVP, even after Congress ordered the project’s approval as part of D.C. legislation to increase the debt ceiling.
“Armed with this new legislation enacted specifically in their favor, Respondents – the federal agencies and the Mountain Valley Pipeline – moved in this Court for the dismissal of the petitions,” appeals judge James Wynn wrote. “Upon consideration of the matters before us, we must grant Respondents’ motions to dismiss.”
Environmental groups have opposed the $6.6B natural gas pipeline project, which is led by Equitrans Midstream (NYSE:ETRN) with partners NextEra Energy (NEE), Consolidated Edison (ED), AltaGas (OTCPK:ATGFF) and RGC Resources (RGCO).
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