A federal appeals court has again rejected a bid by Virginia landowners to challenge the construction of a natural gas pipeline.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Tuesday that the Virginia landowners cannot sue developers of the Mountain Valley Pipeline for taking their land through eminent domain.
The same court had earlier rejected the landowners’ case, but the U.S. Supreme Court sent it back for further review.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a siting certificate to the pipeline’s builders in 2017. It enabled them to use eminent domain to acquire property for the 303-mile pipeline.
The $7.2 billion project is over its original budget and past its scheduled completion. When finished in the coming months, it will transport as much as two billion cubic feet of gas a day.