Andy Li, andy.li@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit denied motions for stay, pending judicial review, of both the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s (VDEQ) and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s (NCDEQ) Clean Water Act Section 401 Certifications for Mountain Valley Pipeline’s (MVP) Southgate Amendment pipeline project.
MVP is seeking authorization to construct and operate an amended version of the MVP Southgate project, originally proposed in 2018. In two separate cases challenging the respective certifications, Southern Environmental Law Center’s and Appalachian Mountain Advocates’ clients filed motions requesting a stay pending review. Separately, groups represented by Southern Environmental Law Center, Appalachian Mountain Advocates, and Sierra Club have challenged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s authorization for the pipeline in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
MVP planned to begin construction of Southgate in March 2026, to include tree clearing and trenching across miles of land and through scores of streams and wetlands. On March 30th, the Fourth Circuit issued temporary administrative stays in both cases, putting the permits on hold to maintain the status quo until the court could hear oral arguments on the parallel motions for stay pending judicial review in each case. Today’s rulings, denying those motions for stay pending review, allow MVP to move forward with construction while the Fourth Circuit considers the merits of each case.
Community and Environmental Organizations have released the following statement in response:
“Unfortunately, MVP is being allowed to move forward with construction while our clients’ challenges to the pipeline’s Virginia and North Carolina water permits are heard, risking real harm to Virginia and North Carolina waters and wetlands. It will have real consequences for landowners and communities along the Southgate route, disrupting their way of life, affecting streams and rivers that people know and depend on, and harming the environment, and the aquatic life that inhabits those waterways.”
In November 2025 and January 2026, respectively, NCDEQ and VDEQ issued water quality certifications under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act to MVP for the Southgate project. The 401 Certifications were necessary prerequisites for the Clean Water Act Section 404 permit that MVP received from the Corps to allow it to trench or blast through streams and wetlands in both states.
Southern Environmental Law Center and Appalachian Mountain Advocates, in the Virginia case, jointly represent Appalachian Voices, Center for Biological Diversity, Dan River Basin Association, Sierra Club, and Wild Virginia. In the North Carolina case, Appalachian Mountain Advocates represents Sierra Club and Appalachian Voices, and Southern Environmental Law Center represents 7 Directions of Service.
MVP proposes to build a 31.3-mile, 30-inch-diameter natural gas pipeline, known as the Southgate Pipeline, beginning in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, and extending into Rockingham County, North Carolina, with most of its length in Virginia. The Southgate project is part of the unprecedented expansion of gas infrastructure underway across the South, where in just the last several years industry has proposed enough new pipeline capacity to fuel dozens of new power plants.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.