Equitrans Midstream Corp. asked the US Supreme Court to allow it to resume construction on its controversial Mountain Valley Pipeline after a federal appeals court issued a pair of orders blocking the $6.6 billion project earlier this week.
The company urged Chief Justice John Roberts to lift a pair of orders issued by the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which came despite language in recently enacted debt-ceiling legislation intended to prevent the pipeline from being stalled by the court. The company has said the pipeline, which has backing from West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, may not meet its goal of being completed by the end of this year unless the court’s orders are quickly reversed.
The route for the roughly 300-mile (480-kilometer) pipeline runs through the Appalachian Mountains, a national forest and across hundreds of streams as it carries natural gas from West Virginia to southern Virginia. It has drawn fierce opposition from environmentalists.
Roberts is the justice assigned to handle emergency matters from the 4th Circuit. He could act on his own or refer the request to the full nine-member court.
Read More: Court Stalls Pipeline That Joe Manchin Thought It Couldn’t Touch
