BLUEFIELD, W.Va. (WVVA) - State political leaders quickly reacted to the U.S, Supreme Court’s decision to vacate a lower court stay on construction of the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline.

“All necessary permits have been issued and approved, we passed bipartisan legislation in Congress, the president signed that legislation into law, and now the Supreme Court has spoken: construction on the Mountain Valley Pipeline can finally resume, which is a major win for American energy and American jobs,” said Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said it is a win for West Virginia and the nation.

“I am pleased the Supreme Court recognized the importance of this project not only for West Virginia, but for the nation,” Morrisey said. “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.”

“All three branches of government agree: the completion of the Mountain Valley Pipeline is legal and must be finished immediately,” Rep. Carol Miller, R-1st District, said. “The American people are tired of politics interfering with domestic energy production in the name of climate change, and I am looking forward to Mountain Valley Pipeline’s swift completion which will lower energy costs and provide jobs across West Virginia.”

Capito, Miller, Morrisey and others had filed amicus briefs with the Supreme Court urging a decision to vacate the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond’s recent decision to once again halt 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.

Work can now resume and the MVP’s owners, Equitrans Midstream, 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.

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.

The MVP was initially slated to be finished in late 2018 with a $3.2 billion price tag, a cost that has now risen to about $6.5 billion.