The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Huntington District’s Nationwide Permit 12 for the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) was vacated on October 2 by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. At this time, the court’s action only applies in West Virginia.
The case had been argued the previous Friday, September 28. The Court said that it agreed with the petitioners’ claim that “in issuing its verification, the Corps improperly imposed one condition—requiring use of a ‘dry cut’ method for constructing four river crossings – in lieu of a special condition imposed by the State of West Virginia, J.A. 23 – that that individual stream crossings must be completed in a continuous, progressive manner within 72 hours.”
MVP informed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on October 3 that:
Before the Court issued its order, Mountain Valley had commenced the process of crossing two streams in the Huntington District. Mountain Valley had installed flumes in the streams but had not yet started trenching. Mountain Valley has suspended the trenching work for these streams and is in the process of removing the flumes and completing any required stream bank restoration.
Also, on October 3, the plaintiffs in the case wrote FERC, arguing that the agency’s October 13, 2017 certificate for the MVP “is no longer satisfied, requiring the Commission to take action to stop further construction activities” for the entire route, in WV and VA.