A month ago MDN told you that some West Virginia landowners were complaining about strong-arm tactics being used by EQT and NextEra US Gas Assets and their Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) project to build a 330-mile pipeline from Wetzel County, WV to the Transco Pipeline in Pittsylvania County, VA (see WV Landowners Say They’re Bullied by Mountain Valley Pipeline). At the time, MVP threatened to sue over 100 landowners who were not allowing their survey crews access in order to survey and find the best path for the pipeline. It’s not a threat any more. Last Friday MVP filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Beckley, WV asking the court to force three corporations and 103 other property owners in 10 WV counties to let survey crews on their land. As we pointed out a month ago, such a lawsuit depends on eminent domain. The problem is, MVP isn’t yet approved by FERC, so the right of eminent domain doesn’t exist yet–at least that’s our understanding of how it works…
