Sierra Club Succeeds in Delaying MVP Project in WV via Court Order

The insidious and well-funded Sierra Club has scored another temporary legal victory in stopping Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) construction throughout West Virginia. One month ago we reported that the Clubbers had claimed a temporary victory in stopping construction work of MVP at four river crossings in WV. At that time (in May), the Clubbers and a mishmash of other radicalized groups filed a motion asking the Fourth District U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to suspend a permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that allows MVP to construct the pipeline across streams and rivers in the Mountain State (see Army Corps Engineers Suspends MVP Permit for River Crossings). The Clubbers’ tortured logic was this: When constructing the pipeline across a river, the stated government standard is that construction can take no longer than 72 hours. MVP says it will need longer when constructing the pipeline across four rivers–Elk, Gauley, Greenbrier and Meadow. Therefore (say the Clubbers), MVP is in violation of the general permit issued by the Corps and that means ALL (not just those four rivers) construction should be stopped, immediately. The Corps said they had reviewed the standards and have (for now) rescinded the permit as it applies ONLY to those four rivers, NOT to any other locations. However, the Fourth District Court ruled late last week that construction at all 591 stream crossings the pipeline traverses must now be immediately stopped until the court farts around and considers the full lawsuit brought by the radicalized Clubbers. Enough of this nonsense!…