By MATT COMBS
The Register-Herald
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — On Tuesday, the Court of Appeals for the U.S. Fourth Circuit ruled against an appeal by landowners over a previous court ruling regarding the right of the Mountain Valley Pipeline to construct through property which just compensation had not yet been settled.
In its ruling, the court found that MVP, through its 2017 Federal Energy Regulatory Commission construction permit, had been granted the right to claim easements through eminent domain where private agreements could not be made and that “Mountain Valley successfully negotiated easements allowing access onto the land of most of the affected landowners.”
Citing lower court rulings that MVP could initiate construction through easements which had not yet been settled due to the lengthy time frame of eminent domain proceedings the Fourth Circuit ruled “We hold that the district courts did not abuse their discretion in allowing Mountain Valley immediate possession, and therefore affirm the injunction orders.”
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