Mountain Valley Pipeline Dealt Huge Defeat by WV Supreme Court

The proposed Mountain Valley Pipeline project slated to run through Webster County and to generate as much as $1.6 million in tax revenue to the County in its first year of operation lost a major case today before the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.

MVP surveyors had sought to enter private property without landowner permission to conduct pipeline surveying.  A Monroe County Circuit Judge ruled that MVP could not enter onto private property without the landowner's permission because the MVP project does not serve a public purpose.  Only government or certain private entities vested with the power of eminent domain can enter without permission.  For eminent domain to apply, the project must be for a public purpose.

Today, West Virginia's high court agreed with the Circuit Judge.

The implications of the high court's decision may doom the pipeline project.  Since the Court agreed the pipeline only serves the private financial interests of the MVP, and serves no public purpose as the State gets no benefit from the pipeline, landowners who do not want the pipeline can refuse to let surveyors on their property.  In addition, landowners cannot be forced to consent to the pipeline being built on their property since the MVP will not be vested with the power of eminent domain to force landowners to do what they want.

Whether this puts a stop to the pipeline remains in doubt.  MVP's only option now is to re-route their proposed pipeline through landowners who consent and do not object.  This is good news for private landowners as they can ask for a better lease price or simply tell MVP to take their pipeline elsewhere.

Click here for the full text of the Court's opinion:  Pipeline Loses