Capito says Supreme Court decision on MVP is ‘final say’

WASHINGTON (WVVA) - As far as Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., is concerned, work on the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) is full steam ahead with no more stoppages from court decisions.

Capito said during a virtual press briefing today from her Washington office that she is “elated” with the decision and U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who vacated a stay on a work stoppage, has the final word and court battles are over.

“The Supreme Court really is the final say … " she said. “I think this pretty much wraps it up. My understanding of what Justice Roberts said to the court was that … you can’t have a stay because you don’t have the jurisdiction. It’s over, and it’s time to admit that fact at the Fourt Circuit and move on. Congress has spoken.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond earlier this month halted construction after a lawsuit was filed by the Wilderness Society questioning the constitutionality of Congress’s recent decision to proceed with MVP construction without the Fourth Circuit’s judicial review.

A provision in the U.S. debt ceiling bill passed in June streamlined the federal approval process and prevented judicial review, and work once again resumed shortly after that.

But the Fourth Circuit issued the stay anyway, and MVP owners Equitrans Midstream appealed to the Supreme Court for an emergency ruling on the matter.

Roberts made the decision himself because the Fourth Circuit is under his jurisdiction and he had the choice to decide or take it to the full court.

Although he made the decision, Capito said Roberts asked if any other members wanted to weigh in.

“No other judge disagreed with him,” she said.

Equitrans Midstream wanted a resolution because the company has said that, with the 303-mile natural gas pipeline that runs from West Virginia to Chatham, Va. and beyond already about 95 percent complete, the MVP should be completed by the end of this year if work resumes now.

“This will be thousands of construction jobs,” Capito said. “I am very excited about the short-term construction jobs and also the longer term exploration jobs that are going to go along with this.”

Part of that unfinished part is in Monroe and Giles counties, crossing Peters Mountain through national forest land. The Fourth Circuit had stopped construction numerous times after lawsuits were filed saying the federal permitting process related to crossing federal land was not properly followed.