ICYMI: Two Massive Fracked Gas Pipelines Put on Hold

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In the space of just one week, legal challenges from clean water advocates led to work stoppages along the entire routes of both the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit threw out permits the pipelines needed to cross the Blue Ridge Parkway (for the ACP) and the Jefferson National Forest (for the MVP) as well as approvals regulating how many endangered species could be harmed in building the ACP. Those rulings were a result of legal challenges from coalitions protecting clean water, special places, and local communities and economies. On July 27, the Court issued a decision that rescinded permission for all of MVP’s pipeline-related activities in the Jefferson National Forest (JNF). The court vacated the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management's decisions to allow the MVP to cross the publicly-owned JNF. On August 6, the same court threw out the National Park Service’s permit for the ACP’s crossing of the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The groups then argued that because the agencies behind those permits might decide that the pipeline crossings of the forest and parkway might need to be rerouted, the projects should be halted everywhere, not just on the affected federal lands.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) agreed, telling both the ACP (on Aug. 10) and MVP (on Aug. 3) to halt work along the entirety of their routes. However, on Friday, Aug. 10, at MVP's behest, FERC approved MVP's outrageous plan to evade the court decisions by laying many miles of pipeline under the false pretense of "stabilizing" the right of way. The Sierra Club and its partners will be seeking emergency relief in both the D.C. Circuit and Fourth Circuit to stop this scandalous action.

The MVP decisions were the result of cases brought by the Sierra Club, Wild Virginia, and Appalachian Voices together with The Wilderness Society, Preserve Craig, and Save Monroe. The legal actions on the ACP stemmed from a case argued by the Southern Environmental Law Center on behalf of the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife and the Virginia Wilderness Committee.

In response, Sierra Club Beyond Dirty Fuels Campaign Senior Campaign Representative Joan Walker released the following statement:

"The only thing murkier than the fate of these pipelines is the waterways they are polluting. If there’s one thing that’s clear, it’s that the tide has turned against these dirty, dangerous fracked gas projects. Courts are recognizing there is no right way to build gas pipelines, and the people won’t stop fighting them until they are permanently halted.”