MVP Sues Two Protesters for Conspiracy, Blocking Pipe Construction
ANTI-DRILLING/FOSSIL FUEL | CRIME | ENERGY SERVICES | EQUITRANS/EQT MIDSTREAM | INDUSTRYWIDE ISSUES | LITIGATION
November 13, 2023
In September, Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), which has been hassled and harassed endlessly by so-called “protesters” and foreign-backed Big Green groups, sued some 40 protesters and two Big Green groups for $4 million for their ongoing illegal activity to block the final bits of the 303-mile project (see MVP Files Lawsuit Against Anti Groups, Protesters for $4 Million). Many individual protesters were unknown and not identified by name in the September lawsuit. We now know about two of them. Last week, MVP filed a second lawsuit for unspecified damages against Daniel Guidry (from Georgia) and Ashley Stecher Wagner (from California) for their alleged ongoing illegal activities in blocking construction, accusing them of conspiracy in organizing others to do the same.
These so-called protesters are costing MVP big money in delays. It’s time for it to end. Maybe time in jail and fines that personally bankrupt them will finally put an end to the nonsense.
As an aside, who (which organizations) are bankrolling these so-called protesters? You know they travel from Georgia and California using their own money, stay in hotels and eat using their own money. It’s all bankrolled by Big Green groups (that also need to be sued).
As we said in September, the left is screaming that MVP’s lawsuits are intimidation and an attempt to shut people up. It is nothing of the sort. People are allowed to show up and protest all they want. What they can’t do is engage in illegal activity to block construction. People’s free speech rights are not being infringed. It is their illegal actions to block lawful construction that is being challenged by MVP’s lawsuits.
Reuters has the latest:
The developer of the Mountain Valley Pipeline has sued two protesters it says blocked construction on the $7.2 billion natural gas project, seeking compensation and orders barring them from interfering in the future.
Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC sued Daniel Guidry and Ashley Stecher Wagner on Wednesday in federal court in Roanoke, Virginia, claiming they coordinated with others to illegally attach themselves to the land and construction equipment being used to build a segment of the pipeline in the Jefferson National Forest last month.
The lawsuit said law enforcement ultimately removed the protesters after sawing through devices anchoring them in place, and said the removal process caused “substantial delays and expenses” for the developer.
The developer said it has a right to build the pipeline in the Virginia forest and that the obstruction violated that right. The lawsuit noted Congress expressly ratified federal approvals for the 303-mile (488-km) pipeline running through West Virginia and Virginia earlier this year.
The developer is asking for undisclosed compensatory and punitive damages, and an injunction barring Guidry and Wagner from entering the construction area, blocking access to it or helping others interfere with construction.
Mountain Valley is owned by units of Equitrans Midstream, as well as NextEra Energy (NEE.N), Consolidated Edison (ED.N) and RGC Resources (RGCO.O) among others.
Guidry and Wagner, who allegedly worked in coordination with others to obstruct the construction, could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday.
The pipeline was initially projected to be finished by late 2018 but was delayed by numerous legal challenges filed by environmental groups that claimed it would cause environmental damage and increase the use of climate change-causing natural gas. Supporters of the project have said it is key to further unlocking Appalachian gas and bolstering American energy security.
The Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ended most of the remaining legal challenges to the project in August, months after Democrats and Republicans in Congress struck a debt limit deal that included express authorizations for the pipeline. The project is now expected to be finished in the first quarter of 2024.
This past summer, the developer also sued protesters in state court for obstructing construction on remaining portions of the pipeline.
The case is Mountain Valley Pipeline v. Daniel Guidry and Ashley Stecher Wagner, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, case No. 7:23-cv-00727.
For Mountain Valley: Wade Massie and Seth Land of Penn Stuart & Eskridge
For the protesters: Counsel information not immediately available*
Copy of the lawsuit filed by MVP against Guidry and Wagner: