The Biden administration is bucking environmentalists and joining Republican-backed support for completing the Mountain Valley Pipeline — a 303-mile-long conduit that will deliver natural gas from West Virginia to Virginia.
U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar asked the Supreme Court on Friday to lift an injunction on the project by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. About 20 miles of the pipeline, which was begun in 2018, remain to be built.
After years of permitting procedures and litigation, the Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC asked the high court to lift the latest injunction so that the project can be finished before winter. The Biden administration supports that move.
The pipeline’s route cuts across the Appalachian Trail near the congressionally protected Peters Mountain Wilderness in Southwest Virginia.
Environmental groups such as the Wilderness Society and Appalachian Voices, among others, argued in their appellate court filing that Congress couldn’t authorize the pipeline and dictate jurisdiction over lawsuits challenging it because that violates the U.S. Constitution’s separation of powers.
“Congress cannot pick winners and losers in pending litigation by compelling findings or results without supplying new substantive law for the courts to apply,” the groups said.
They said the U.S. Forest Service bent the rules so it could authorize the pipeline through the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia and West Virginia. They also said the pipeline clashes with the Endangered Species Act.
Spokespersons for the Wilderness Society and Appalachian Voices declined to comment on the high court petition.
Indigenous people organizations have joined environmentalists over the years in protesting the pipeline, which was authorized in 2017.
In June, President Biden signed the Fiscal Responsibility Act, which required federal permits for the project to be issued by the end of June.
The pipeline is set to be complete by the end of the year, with a roughly 20-mile stretch left to be completed if the 4th Circuit’s injunction is lifted.
The Biden administration’s request was presented to Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who could act alone or refer the matter to the full court for consideration.
Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, has supported the project, as do pro-energy Republicans like West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who says the 4th Circuit overstepped its authority in blocking the construction.
“The Mountain Valley Pipeline is vital to the survival of American energy independence and affects thousands of jobs in West Virginia — its completion is also critical to our national security, the urgent need is for it to be completed as soon as possible,” Mr. Morrisey said.
Mr. Morrisey filed a brief at the high court arguing for the pipeline company, and so did House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, California Republican.
“The Fiscal Responsibility Act, in addition to being the largest deficit reduction package in American history, included additional reforms to get America back on track. One of those reforms is completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, which is critical to the energy security of our country. Environmental groups are now trying to block the pipeline in violation of the law. But, as the amicus brief filed by the House of Representatives makes clear, Congress has spoken — the pipeline must be completed,” Mr. McCarthy said.
Virginia’s five Democratic members of the U.S. House, though, have taken the side of the environmentalists in a separate court filing.
“The MVP has drawn community objections because it would extend roughly 300 miles through Appalachia, damage hundreds of streams, harm several acres of wetlands, and require a taking of private property from many Virginia families,” they argued in their brief.
Lawyers for the pipeline company argued that Congress authorized the project, saying the delivery of natural gas is in the interest of the nation and lawmakers set forth within the legislation that legal challenges to it should be adjudicated in Washington, D.C. — not the 4th Circuit.
“MVP has only approximately three months to complete the Pipeline before winter weather sets in and precludes significant construction tasks until the spring of 2024,” lawyers for Mountain Valley Pipeline said in its filing. “Congress could not have been clearer that the national interest requires that the Pipeline be completed ‘expediti[ously].’”
The 4th Circuit had halted authorization for work in the Jefferson National Forest earlier this month ahead of oral arguments, which are set for Thursday.
The $6.6 billion pipeline is expected to eventually meet energy demands throughout the mid-Atlantic region.
⦁ This article is based in part on wire service reports.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.