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A group that protested against the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP) may be going back to court soon.
The West Virginia Intermediate Court of Appeals Thursday overturned the dismissal of charges including trespassing against four Mountain Valley Pipeline protesters.
On Sept. 7, 2023, the defendants sat in rocking chairs, with one chaining themselves to construction equipment at a pipeline property. When confronted, the respondents refused to leave the property and eventually were arrested and charged by the West Virginia State Police.
The Mountain Valley Pipeline went into operation in June 2024.
In October of last year, the Circuit Court of Appeals in Summers County dismissed all charges against the protesters. Mountain Valley Pipeline operators appealed in part because the charges against three of the four protesters were dismissed without a hearing being held.
In the Intermediate Court’s published opinion, Judge Daniel Greear wrote that the lower court was mistaken in dismissing trespassing charges as well as in finding that a one day protest did not constitute damaging interference.
Greear also found that the defendants could be liable for punitive damages as relief for their trespass and interference.
“Under West Virginia law, a separate cause of action for punitive damages does not exist, but such damages may be awarded as damages for independent torts under appropriate circumstances,” Greear argued.
The Intermediate Court ruling did uphold the dismissal of three charges including civil conspiracy, violations of the West Virginia Critical Infrastructure Protection Act, and a stand-alone claim for punitive damages.
The case now returns to the Circuit Court of Appeals in Summers County for further consideration.