弗吉尼亚州里士满的联邦上诉法院，返回6.2亿美元的山谷天然气管道，因为它在弗吉尼亚州和西弗吉尼亚州的临近完成，当时1月25日的法官扔掉了联邦机构的环境批准一个国家森林 - 第二次暂时说他们未能考虑“现实世界数据”。
法院以前通过美国森林服务和美国内部部门的贸易局派出了评估。“我们指导森林服务更彻底地分析管道的沉降影响，”法院表示。
A new supplemental impact review prepared by the agencies used two hydrological analyses provided by Mountain Valley Partners, the project developers, but it did not consider U.S. Geological Survey water-quality monitoring data that showed water turbidity values 20% higher downstream of the pipeline’s construction than upstream—“a significant difference from the 2.1% increase in sedimentation the hydrologic analyses predicted for the Roanoke River,” the court said.
在不包括USGS数据，机构“完全未能考虑问题的重要方面”，法院表示，补充说遗漏手段“在EIS中使用的建模可能不一致......实际影响管道及其建设。“
The 304-mile project is nearly fully built but awaits permits to cross a 3.5-mile area of the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia, among other approvals. The line was originally set to finish in 2018 at a cost of $3.7 billion.
The pipeline is a joint venture of EQM Midstream Partners LP; NextEra Capital Holdings Inc.; Con Edison Transmission Inc.; WGL Midstream; and RGC Midstream LLC.
Precision Pipeline, a subsidiary of energy contractor MasTec, is building the project. Mountain Valley Partners would not confirm other members of the construction team.
联邦能源再保险gulatory Commission approved the project in October 2017, and allowed construction to continue despite challenges by the Sierra Club and other environmental groups in several courts.
FERC的批准存活了法律挑战，但现在原子能机构必须考虑所有者要求改变其流交叉方法。FERC的裁决可以通过预计要求更加严格的项目评论的新机构管道政策指导。在委员会为3-2名民主党多数范围内制定的新指导预计将在几周内预期。
Ultimately the question is whether the project will obtain federal permits and construction will finish. The agencies will consider environmental effects again, but this time under the Biden administration. Mountain Valley's two previous environmental reviews were prepared during the Trump administration.
Project completion would be a major win for the industry, Bloomberg Law says, noting that developers' ability to lock in contracts with several shippers that are standing by the project through its legal challenges confirms consumer interest.
至少有一个行业分析师为该项目提供了5％的被取消的可能性。
Environmental groups say the pipeline is not needed, and that several major northeast gas projects were recently cancelled—including the 116-mile PennEast Pipeline from Pennsylvania to New Jersey; the 600-mile Atlantic Coast pipeline from West Virginia to North Carolina; and the 121-mile Constitution pipeline, which would have run from northeast Pennsylvania to central New York.
