Clean Water Advocates File Challenge to Block MVP From Ignoring Stop Work Order

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Yesterday, a coalition of clean water advocates filed two emergency motions to stop the continued construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP). After the coalition’s legal challenges led a court to throw out permits the MVP needed to build in the Jefferson National Forest, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ordered a halt to construction along the project’s entire route, on Aug 3.

However, the stop work order required MVP to submit a plan for how to stabilize their worksites to prevent soil erosion. Unfortunately, MVP cynically seized on this opportunity to claim that they needed to finish construction on up to 80 miles (45 in the short term and an additional 35 after Sept. 1) of pipeline to stabilize their sites.

Yesterday’s emergency motions were filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the Washington, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. The coalition is arguing that MVP should cease all construction because it is “necessary to ensure that the Forest Service and [the Bureau of Land Management] can appropriately respond to this Court’s instructions and will prevent unnecessary, imminent, and irreparable harm.”

In response, Sierra Club Legal Director Pat Gallagher released the following statement:

"If your parents tell you to eat your vegetables before your dessert, that doesn't mean you cram all the cake in your mouth. Despite orders to stop construction, MVP is once again proving it cannot be trusted, so we are asking the courts to force them to stop construction. We’ve been fighting MVP’s every attempt to disregard commonsense protections for clean water, forests, and communities, so it’s not really that surprising we’d have to block their end run around our judicial system, too.”