March 2018, Vol. 245, No. 3

Projects

Judge Pauses Land Acquisition for Mountain Valley Pipeline

A federal judge halted Mountain Valley Pipeline’s plan to take possession of various lands in Virginia for its pipeline project until the company shows  landowners they will be adequately compensated.

In the ruling, a  judge said the limited liability corporation is entitled to condemn the land it requires for the project, but it can’t take possession of most of the properties until the court is convinced proper compensations will be distributed.

Mountain Valley reached agreements to acquire most of the land for the 330-mile pipeline from northwestern Virginia to southern Virginia, but it sued nearly 300 property owners who refused to give up their lands.

With a vast supply of natural gas from Marcellus and Utica shale production, the pipeline is expected to provide up to 2 MMDth/d of firm transmission capacity to markets in the South and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.