The fight over the Mountain Valley Pipeline project in West Virginia is over — at least for now.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that construction can resume on the long-delayed natural gas pipeline project for West Virginia and neighboring Virginia, striking down a stay issued earlier this month by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va.
U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., addressed the ruling Thursday during her weekly press briefing. She said the U.S. Supreme Court has the "final say" on the Mountain Valley Pipeline project.
The Supreme Court's ruling Thursday came on the same day that the Fourth Circuit Court was hearing arguments in the Mountain Valley Pipeline case.
Capito said Chief Justice John Roberts made it clear that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals no longer had jurisdiction in the Mountain Valley Pipeline case.
"My understanding of what Justice Roberts said to the court is you can't have a stay because you don't have the jurisdiction, and it is time to admit that fact and move on," Capito said. "The Supreme Court is the final say in the case."
Capito said Roberts gave his fellow Supreme Court justices an opportunity to speak on the Mountain Valley Pipeline case, and no one asked to be heard.
Legislation passed by Congress, and signed into law earlier this month by President Joe Biden, approved all of the necessary permits for the project and included language stating that the Fourth Circuit Court no longer had jurisdiction in the case and that any legal filings with regards to the pipeline project must now instead be heard in the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. President Joe Biden signed the bill into law.
Capito said it is now time for the Fourth Circuit Court to "get out of the way, which is what the Supreme Court said today."
She predicted Thursday that construction would immediately resume on the 303-mile natural gas pipeline project. It is already about 95 percent complete.
"I'm elated about this," Capito said. "It is exciting to see that the last 5 percent of the pipeline will be built and the thousands of jobs that will come with it is always good news."
The 303-mile pipeline is expected to employ 2,500 workers during the construction phase, provide $131 million in tax revenues to Virginia and West Virginia, and provide an additional $45 million in annual tax revenue to the two states, according to officials.
Lawyers for the company said they needed quick Supreme Court action to keep plans on track to finish building the pipeline and put it into service by the winter, when the need for natural gas for heating grows, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
Area lawmakers and state officials applauded the Supreme Court's ruling Thursday.
“The Supreme Court has spoken and this decision to let construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline move forward again is the correct one," U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said. "I am relieved that the highest court in the land has upheld the law Congress passed and the president signed.”
“I am pleased the Supreme Court recognized the importance of this project not only for West Virginia, but for the nation,” Attorney General Patrick Morrisey added. “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," U.S. Rep. Carol Miller, R-W.Va., added. "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.”
More than a dozen lawmakers, and a number of state officials, including Morrisey and Gov. Jim Justice, filed briefs in the case urging the Supreme Court to allow construction on the project to resume.