Richmond, VA — The US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed two cases against authorizations issued by agencies to the Mountain Valley Pipeline. During the hearings of both cases in Richmond, the Supreme Court granted MVP its emergency appeal to dismiss two stays on construction issued by the Fourth Circuit. The two stays included a stay of construction during pending litigation on the pipeline crossing the Jefferson National Forest and a stay of the biological opinion and incidental take statement under the Endangered Species Act for MVP. 

Russell Chisholm, managing director of the Protect Our Water, Heritage, Rights Coalition (POWHR) responded: 

“It is clear to us that the top levers of power in this country do not serve the good of the people of Appalachia, who they have continued to sacrifice for the whims of a corrupt, reckless fossil fuel corporation. As wildfires and heatwaves terrorize our global kin, as President Biden spreads misinformation about his climate commitments, we resolve to protect our communities because we can’t count on so-called ‘leaders’ to do so.”

Jason Crazy Bear Keck, co-founder of 7 Directions of Service, responded:

“We are extremely disappointed but never surprised by the system created for profit. Such tools of oppression operate exactly as they were intended to. This terrible news does not hinder or harm our conviction, rather it proves the necessity to keep on resisting. The temper tantrums from corporate agents and bought-off political implants only remind the people of how terribly off-track governance has become as it relates to the protection of society and its natural environment. We continue to condemn irresponsibility, condemn systematic oppression, and condemn an all-out federal attack on our futures. We stand on what’s right, what’s just, and what’s sustainable for our generations not yet arrived. We stand for all and with this stance we believe that we will win.”

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Press Contact: Denali Nalamalapu, (302) 307-6966‬, denali@powhr.org