Landowners Ask Supreme Court to Hear Mountain Valley Case

A group of landowners along the path of the Mountain Valley Pipeline in Virginia and West Virginia is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal in their eminent domain lawsuit against federal regulators and developers.

The plaintiffs filed a petition this week asking the high court to reverse a decision by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That court over the summer affirmed the ruling of a lower-court judge who didn’t rule on the case’s constitutional issues but dismissed them, saying she lacked jurisdiction.

The landowners argue that taking their property for the 303-mile natural gas pipeline through eminent domain is an unconstitutional land grab.

It’s uncertain if the Supreme court will hear the case, although attorneys for the landowners are hopeful. The court agrees to hear oral arguments in only about 80 of the approximately 8,000 cases filed each year.

Work on the approximately $4.6 billion project is underway. Pipeline developers plan to have it operating by the end of next year.