Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC v. Western Pocahontas Props. Ltd.

918 F.3d 353
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
DecidedMarch 13, 2019
DocketNo. 18-1329
StatusPublished
Cited by62 cases

This text of 918 F.3d 353 (Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC v. Western Pocahontas Props. Ltd.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC v. Western Pocahontas Props. Ltd., 918 F.3d 353 (4th Cir. 2019).

Opinion

GREGORY, Chief Judge:

This appeal arises from a condemnation proceeding commenced by Appellee Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC ("MVP"). MVP is a natural gas company that was authorized by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") to exercise the right of eminent domain in order to construct a pipeline. The United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia granted MVP partial summary judgment on its right to condemn certain temporary and permanent easements on the properties of several landowners, including Appellant Western Pocahontas Properties, Limited Partnership ("WPPLP"). The district court also granted MVP's motion for a preliminary injunction allowing MVP immediate access to the easements described in MVP's complaint. WPPLP appeals the district court's decision granting MVP's motions for summary judgment and a preliminary injunction. WPPLP also challenges the district court's exclusion of evidence proffered during the preliminary injunction hearing.

For the reasons that follow, we affirm the district court's order in its entirety.

I.

The Natural Gas Act ("the NGA") authorizes the holder of a certificate of public convenience and necessity to condemn land necessary for a particular project if it cannot acquire the land through contract or cannot agree with the landowner as to the compensation.

*36115 U.S.C. § 717f(h). Our holding in East Tennessee Natural Gas Co. v. Sage allows district courts to utilize their equitable power to grant injunctions to gas companies in NGA condemnation proceedings where the company has demonstrated that it has a substantive right to the property pursuant to the NGA and has met the requirements for a preliminary injunction. 361 F.3d 808, 828 (4th Cir. 2004).

On October 13, 2017, FERC issued a certificate of public convenience and necessity to MVP. The FERC certificate authorizes MVP to construct and operate a 303.5-mile natural gas pipeline from Wetzel County, West Virginia to Pittsylvania County, Virginia. After failing to acquire certain properties necessary for the pipeline through negotiation, MVP filed condemnation actions pursuant to the NGA against landowners in three district courts: in the United States District Courts for the Western District of Virginia and the Southern District of West Virginia on October 24, 2017, and in the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia on December 8, 2017. This appeal concerns the action before the Southern District of West Virginia.1

In that action, MVP condemned easements on three parcels of land belonging to WPPLP. MVP condemned only the surface of those properties, asserting that the pipeline project did not require condemnation of the mineral rights or coal estate. MVP moved for partial summary judgment on its right to condemn temporary and permanent easements on the properties of several landowners (including those properties belonging to WPPLP) and sought a preliminary injunction allowing immediate access to the properties. MVP requested access to the landowners' property by February 1, 2018, a date MVP claimed would allow it to adhere to its construction schedule, complete tree-clearing in accordance with environmental requirements, and place the pipeline into service in late 2018. On January 19, 2018, WPPLP filed a motion to dismiss the condemnation action for failure to join an indispensable party. The district court granted MVP's motion to strike WPPLP's motion to dismiss from the record, arguing that no pleadings outside of the answer are permitted in an eminent domain proceeding.

On February 7, 2018, the district court held an evidentiary hearing regarding MVP's motion for partial summary judgment and preliminary injunction. At a prehearing conference, WPPLP proffered testimony to be heard at the preliminary injunction hearing. The majority of the proffered evidence would not relate to the surface tracts named in MVP's complaint but would instead address potential damage to coal and to the interests of WPPLP's affiliate, Western Pocahontas Properties, LLC ("WPPLLC") - a party that had not been joined in the condemnation action. The district court excluded the proffered evidence. After confirming with WPPLP that the proffered evidence did not relate to property that MVP sought to condemn in the complaint, the district court found the evidence to be irrelevant. In reaching its conclusion, the district court reasoned that it would not "hear evidence on properties that are not being taken." J.A. 161.

Following the evidentiary hearing, the district court granted MVP's motion for partial summary judgment and preliminary injunction. This appeal followed. WPPLP argues that the district court *362committed reversible error by: (1) excluding WPPLP's proffered evidence; (2) failing to join WPPLP's affiliate, WPPLLC, as a party to the condemnation action; and (3) granting MVP's motion for summary judgment and preliminary injunction. We address each of WPPLP's challenges below and affirm the district court's order in its entirety.

II.

WPPLP contends that the district court abused its discretion when it precluded WPPLP from introducing evidence regarding potential damage to WPPLP and WPPLLC's coal as a result of the pipeline. MVP responds that the district court did not abuse its discretion, because MVP had the sole power to define the extent of the taking and evidence related to property that MVP did not seek to condemn would therefore be irrelevant. We agree with MVP's position and find that the district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the evidence.

A district court's evidentiary ruling is reviewed for abuse of discretion. United States v. Medford , 661 F.3d 746, 751 (4th Cir. 2011) (citing United States v. Murray , 65 F.3d 1161, 1170 (4th Cir. 1995) ). Under this standard of review, the appellate court affords the evidentiary ruling "substantial deference," and will not overturn the ruling unless the decision was "arbitrary and irrational." Id. (quoting United States v. Weaver , 282 F.3d 302, 313 (4th Cir. 2002) ). A court abuses its discretion "when it acts in an arbitrary manner, when it fails to consider judicially-recognized factors limiting its discretion, or when it relies on erroneous factual or legal premises." United States v. Henry ,

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Hayes v. Duong
W.D. North Carolina, 2025
Dacha v. Landry
E.D. Virginia, 2025
Ray v. Mitchell
E.D. North Carolina, 2025
Watson v. Smith
E.D. Virginia, 2025
Sarahia Benn v. Rebecca Herr
Fourth Circuit, 2025
Jahangiri v. Blinken
D. Maryland, 2024
Norris v. City of Asheville
W.D. North Carolina, 2024
Guzman v. Brazon
W.D. North Carolina, 2024

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
918 F.3d 353, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mountain-valley-pipeline-llc-v-western-pocahontas-props-ltd-ca4-2019.