By Scott DiSavino
NEW YORK, June 11 (Reuters) – A federal appeals court denied motions by environmental and other groups seeking to stay water quality certifications issued by Virginia and North Carolina for Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC’s (MVP) proposed Southgate natural gas pipeline project, according to two court decisions released on Thursday.
In the decisions, the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said, “Federal courts do not grant the extraordinary remedy of a stay pending review absent a strong showing that the movant is likely to succeed on the merits.”
The court added that the environmental and other groups seeking the stay “have not made a strong showing that they are likely to succeed on the merits.”
Earlier, when the groups filed the motion, Organizing Strategist for the Sierra Club Caroline Hansley said, “At a time when households across the nation are struggling to pay rising energy bills, we should be investing in clean, affordable energy— not dangerous, expensive pipeline projects like MVP Southgate.”
“When FERC approved the proposed Southgate extension, it turned a blind eye to evidence showing this pipeline is unneeded and would do significant damage to our environment and climate,” she added.
• The Southgate Project from Virginia to North Carolina is a proposed 31-mile (50-kilometer) extension of the existing 304-mile MVP main line from West Virginia to Virginia, according to the court documents and MVP website.
• Southgate is designed to transport about 0.55 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) of gas. The main line can carry about 2.0 bcfd of gas. One billion cubic feet is enough gas to supply about 5 million U.S. homes for a day.
• MVP initially filed with the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to build Southgate in 2018.
• FERC issued MVP Southgate a notice to proceed with construction in Virginia in March 2026, according to the company’s website.
• The U.S. Department of Energy said on its website that the MVP Southgate project could enter service in 2028 at an estimated cost of $524 million.
• MVP began construction on the main line in 2018, setting off administrative and judicial challenges concerning the project’s environmental compliance and federal approvals. The main line entered service in June 2024.
• MVP is owned by units of energy firms EQT, NextEra Energy, AltaGas and RGC Resources. EQT operates the pipeline and owns a significant interest in the MVP joint venture, according to the company website.
(Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
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