Case 2:17-cv-04214 Document 155 Filed 12/29/17 Page 1 of 15 PageID #: 2388 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA AT CHARLESTON MOUNTAIN VALLEY PIPELINE, L.L.C., Plaintiff, v. Civil Action No. 2:17-cv-04214 AN EASEMENT TO CONSTRUCT, OPERATE AND MAINTAIN A 42-INCH GAS TRANSMISSION LINE ACROSS PROPERTIES IN THE COUNTIES OF NICHOLAS, GREENBRIER, MONROE, SUMMERS, BRAXTON, HARRISON, LEWIS, WEBSTER AND WETZEL, WEST VIRGINIA, OWNED BY D. LANE MCMILLION, ET AL., Defendants. DEFENDANTS RESPONSE AND BRIEF IN OPPOSITION TO PLAINTIFF’S MOTION FOR PARTIAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT AND IMMEDIATE POSSESSION NOW COME Defendants Norvel P. Mann, Jean M. Mann, Thomas B. Mann, Hannah G. Mann, Chloda Crosier, William H. Mann, Lucy G. Booth, Harry L. Mann, Nancy L. Phillips, Donald E. Mann, Carl E. Mann, Larry W. Mann, Bonnie K. Barberie, John White, II, Petrie Dobbs Brown, Addision Dunlap Dobbs, Lee Filmore Dobbs, III, Maury W. Johnson, David Allen Johnson, Wayne Johnson, Everett Johnson, Jr., Clarence Frank Sills, Jr. Kelley Anne Sandell Sills, James O. Gore, Barry G. Meadows, Lisa B. Meadows, Zane R. Lawhorn, Stephen M. Miller, Melanie J. Miller, Cynthia A. Broyles Morris, Trustee of the William S. Broyles Revocable Trust and the Virginia B. Broyles Revocable Trust, Roy P. Reese, Joyce A. Reese, Dennis F. Fountain, Carla D. Fountain, Patricia J. Williams, Roger D. Crabtree, Rebecca 1 Case 2:17-cv-04214 Document 155 Filed 12/29/17 Page 2 of 15 PageID #: 2389 H. Crabtree, Rodger L. Boothe, Marjorie Boothe, Cheryl Bowers, Bonnie Larew Walsh, Gladys Larew Carter, James Tully Larew, Janet Larew Haag, Kerry N. Boone, Cheryl L. Boone, (collectively “Landowners”), by counsel, as their response and brief in opposition to the motion for partial summary judgment and immediate possession (the “QuickTake Motion”) under the Natural Gas Act, 15 USC §§7-717z (“NGA”) and Rules 56 and 65 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (“FRCP”) filed herein by Plaintiff Mountain Valley Pipeline, L.L.C. (“MVP”), and state as follows: I. Preliminary Statement On October 24, 2017, MVP filed its complaint (the “Complaint”) in this Court to condemn property interests of numerous defendants, including Landowners, in this case, under the NGA and FRCP Rule 71.1. On October 27, 2017, MVP filed its QuickTake Motion, a memorandum and declaration of Robert J. Cooper (the “Cooper Declaration”) in support of access to and possession of properties of Landowners and other defendants, to begin trenching, blasting, and/or direct drilling through those properties. MVP argues that Section 7(h) of the NGA grants this newly-formed company the extraordinary and immediate “quick-take” power reserved for traditional governmental acquisitions for purely public use projects, such as those undertaken by the federal government under the Declaration of Taking Act, 40 U.S.C. § 3114 (b). MVP claims this is necessary, in the public interest, and urgent in order to construct a 42” diameter pipeline for the high-pressure transmission of natural gas captured through hydraulic fracturing of shale rock formations in the Marcellus and Utica regions of West Virginia, southwestern Pennsylvania and southern Ohio, approximately 300 miles to an area in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, where it intersects with an existing Transco gas pipeline. MVP further claims 2 Case 2:17-cv-04214 Document 155 Filed 12/29/17 Page 3 of 15 PageID #: 2390 the pipeline will help meet the public’s demand for natural gas in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions of the United States. MVP’s motion for partial summary judgment on its substantive right to condemn easements hinges on MVP establishing there is no genuine issue as to any material fact. The only evidence MVP’s cites in support of its motion is the Cooper Declaration and FERC record. Landowners assert that there are facts in dispute which are material to MVP’s claim of a substantive right to condemn property, and they respectfully request that this Court allow sufficient time, as provided under FRCP Rule 56(d) (2) to discover those facts so they may be properly considered by this Court. II. Rule 56 Summary Judgment MVP argues that its power to condemn easements stems from Section 7(h) of the NGA: (h) Right of eminent domain for construction of pipelines, etc. When any holder of a certificate of public convenience and necessity cannot acquire by contract, or is unable to agree with the owner of property to the compensation to be paid for, the necessary right-of-way to construct, operate, and maintain a pipe line or pipe lines for the transportation of natural gas, and the necessary land or other property, in addition to right-of-way, for the location of compressor stations, pressure apparatus, or other stations or equipment necessary to the proper operation of such pipe line or pipe lines, it may acquire the same by the exercise of the right of eminent domain in the district court of the United States for the district in which such property may be located, or in the State courts. At very least, this section requires MVP to establish that: 1) MVP holds a valid FERC certificate; 2) the easements MVP seeks are necessary; and 3) MVP has been unable to acquire easements by agreement. Genuine issues of material fact exist to all three of these requirements; therefore, as discussed below, partial summary judgment should not be granted. A. MVP has not met all preconditions of the FERC Certificate specified to begin condemnation and construction of its project. On October 13, 2017, FERC granted MVP a conditional Certificate of Public 3 Case 2:17-cv-04214 Document 155 Filed 12/29/17 Page 4 of 15 PageID #: 2391 Convenience and Necessity (“Certificate”). Within the order granting the Certificate, FERC identified numerous conditions that must be met by MVP prior to commencement of construction on Landowners’ properties. See Exhibit A to Complaint (the “FERC Order”). Appendix C. It sets out 12 pages of “Environmental Conditions,” setting out more than 30 conditions which must be met prior to the commencement of construction. CM/ECF # 1-1 at 121–132. For example, MVP must obtain all applicable authorizations required under federal law. Id. at 125. Those authorizations include (1) certifications from Virginia under Section 401 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. § 1341(a)); (2) authorization from the Pittsburgh, Huntington and Norfolk Districts of the United States Army Corps of Engineers for the disposal of dredged and/or fill material into waters of the United States (33 U.S.C. § 1344(a)); (3) final approval from Virginia Department of Historic Resources required under § 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, 54 U.S.C. § 306108; (4) authorization by the United States Forest Service for construction across the Jefferson National Forest (including a special use permit and condemnation agreement); (5) a permit from the Virginia Marine Resources Commission for crossing 18 Virginia streams and rivers with drainage areas greater than 5 square miles; and (6) leases with the Bureau of Land Management which are required for the pipeline to go through lands of the U.S. Forest Service. To support its claim in the QuickTake Motion, MVP relies heavily on East Tenn. Nat. Gas Co. v. Sage, 361 F.3d 808, 828 (4th Cir. 2004). Sage, however, arose in different economic times with much different facts. The only conditions in the certificate FERC granted the gas company in Sage were construction conditions to be met during construction, rather than prior to construction. 361 F.3d at 819. It is quite apparent that MVP will not be able to satisfy the many conditions in Appendix C prior to its target February 1, 2018 pipeline construction start date. As a result, MVP has no substantive right of condemnation to begin construction of the 4 Case 2:17-cv-04214 Document 155 Filed 12/29/17 Page 5 of 15 PageID #: 2392 pipeline. See e.g., Delaware Dept. of Natural Resources v. FERC, 558 F.3d 575, 579 (D.C. Cir. 2009) (stating that a FERC conditioned certificate “cannot possible authorize [the project] until the condition is met.), also Ruby Pipeline, 113 FERC ¶61,015 (2010) at 18 (observing that “[c]onditional Commission orders have been described in the context of constitutional standing analysis as “without binding effect.” Id, p. 21, n.27. Because MVP has not demonstrated that it has met the conditions set forth by FERC, its Certificate grants no present authority to act on any right granted under Section 7(h) of the NGA. MVP’s request for partial summary judgment as to a substantive right of eminent domain should therefore be denied. B. MVP cannot show that the property interests it seeks to condemn are necessary. For the same reasons (the MVP Certificate is conditional), MVP cannot establish that this project is necessary. Unless MVP can satisfy these conditions, the project may never begin. As stated above, since MVP is unable to demonstrate that is has met the conditions set forth by FERC in its issuance of the Certificate, the Certificate has no present legal effect. Without a valid Certificate from FERC, MVP is unable to proceed with its intended project. Therefore, by extension, MVP is also unable to show that the property interests it seeks to condemn are necessary as, without a valid Certificate, its proposed project is unable to advance. If the project is unable to advance, MVP no longer needs to condemn the property interests it seeks to condemn. Because MVP is unable to demonstrate that the property interests it seeks to condemn are necessary, MVP should be denied summary judgment in the present case. C. MVP has failed to establish that it has been unable to acquire easements by agreements with landowners. MVP must engage in good faith negotiations with the landowners before condemning land. See Transcontinental Gas Pipeline Corp. v. 118 Acres, 745 F. Supp. 366, 369 (E.D. La. 5 Case 2:17-cv-04214 Document 155 Filed 12/29/17 Page 6 of 15 PageID #: 2393 1990). Landowners never received written appraisals substantiating MVP’s claims for just compensation but instead only received spread sheet like offers which provide little if any explanation for how MVP arrived at their conclusion of just compensation. For these reasons, material facts are in dispute as to whether MVP has been unable to obtain easement by agreement, and thus further discovery on this issue should proceed. Conclusion As genuine issues of material facts exist to all of the above requirements accordingly summary judgement on MVP’s right to condemn should be denied. III Rule 65 Mandatory Injunction A. MVP will NOT suffer irreparable harm absent the issuance of an injunction because no immediate need to begin construction exists MVP contends that if denied access by this court to immediately begin construction it will suffer irreparable harm by incurring “additional delays and contractor costs.” (See MVP Memo p. 12) However, this argument is premature. When examining the potential harm that the party seeking the injunction may suffer, “the injury must be both certain and great; it must be actual and not theoretical.” Injunctive relief "will not be granted against something merely feared as liable to occur at some indefinite time," See Connecticut v. Massachusetts, 282 U.S. 660, 674, 51 S. Ct. 286, 291, 75 L. Ed. 602 (1931); the party seeking injunctive relief must show that "[t]he injury complained of [is] of such imminence that there is a 'clear and present' need for equitable relief to prevent irreparable harm." Ashland Oil, Inc. v. FTC, 409 F. Supp. 297, 307 (D.D.C.), aff'd, 548 F.2d 977 (D.C. Cir. 1976) (citations and internal quotations omitted). MVP has yet to satisfy all requirements incident to commencement of construction set out in the Certificate; thus, MVP could experience additional delays and additional costs caused by forces totally outside the purview of this Court. Unlike the Patriot Project in East Tennessee Natural Gas Co. v. Sage, 361 6 Case 2:17-cv-04214 Document 155 Filed 12/29/17 Page 7 of 15 PageID #: 2394 F.3d 808 (4th Cir. 2004), which MVP cites as its primary authority, here the harm MVP’s alleges is purely conjectural as there is no danger that MVP will be unable to comply with the construction and service deadlines in its Certificate Order without expedited relief. 361 F.3d at 829 (concluding that the pipeline developer would not be able to meet FERC deadline without preliminary relief). FERC’s Order allows MVP until October 13, 2020 to construct and place the pipeline in service, thus even if MVP were to experience delays in construction as a result of ruling from this court, it would still have ample time to complete construction in compliance with FERC. CM/ECF No. 1-2 at 106 (Certificate Order at 105). In the Cooper Declaration offered as evidence herein by MVP, the pipeline can be constructed and placed in service in less than twelve months. See CM/ECF No. 4-1 at ¶ 13 (stating that “MVP plans to construct the pipeline and place it into service by December 2018”). Ultimately; MVP cannot show that any of the potential delays it has alleged rise to the level of irreparable harm and its claim of irreparable harm in the form increased costs or lost revenue is unpersuasive as district courts have made it clear that irreparable harm requires a showing of “more than mere economic harm.” Wisconsin Gas Co. v. F.E.R.C., 758 F.2d 669, 674, 244 U.S. App. D.C. 349, 354 (C.A.D.C.,1985). For these reasons, MVP is not entitled to injunctive relief. B. The granting of immediate access to begin construction in not in the public interest because the public purpose of MVP’s project is being challenged The public “purpose” of the MVP project has been questioned since details of the project were first announced. Prior to FERC’s issuance of the Certificate to MVP, multiple lawsuits were filed in federal court alleging that FERC’s “rubber stamp” approach of approving natural gas pipelines generally and, more specifically, the issuance of a certificate to MVP does not adhere to the “public use” standards imposed by the Fifth Amendments Takings Clause. Currently, 7 Case 2:17-cv-04214 Document 155 Filed 12/29/17 Page 8 of 15 PageID #: 2395 multiple parties are challenging the issuance of certificates by FERC in various instances before both this Court (Berkley, et al. v. Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC, et al., Case No. 7:17-cv00357, filed July 27, 2017) and in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (Bold Alliance et al., v. Federal Energy Regulatory Comm’n, et al., Case No. 1:17-cv-01822-RJL, filed Sept. 5, 2017). Similar to the case at hand, a large part of these lawsuits concerns FERC’s routine grant of certificates of convenience and necessity to projects whose sole or primary purpose is to benefit foreign commerce. (See generally Bold Alliance, et al). In addition to these federal lawsuits, over twenty requests for a rehearing have been filed by FERC intervenors, as interested parties, many requesting a stay of the certificate order (FERC Docket No. CP16-10). These lawsuits, including the present, and rehearing requests, as well as the Constitutional challenges posed wherein, should be fully discovered, briefed, argued, and adjudicated prior to the construction of a project of this magnitude on the private properties of landowners. To find otherwise would violate the due process and property rights of all those parties named in the above-mentioned suits. It is also noteworthy that following the decision by FERC, in a split 2-1 vote, to issue the Certificate to MVP, FERC’s former acting chair, Commissioner LaFleur, wrote a dissenting opinion asserting that MVP’s project as proposed is not in the public interest. Commissioner LaFleur argues that the proposed project does not meet the public interest for two reasons: 1) the FERC records demonstrate that regional needs may be met by alternate approaches that could provide significantly fewer environmental impacts, and 2) the need for gas to be provided by the MVP proposed project is unknown, a fact that shifts the balance analysis toward denial of the certificate. (Mountain Valley Pipeline, LLC, Equitrans, L.P. 161 FERC ¶ 61,744). Despite issuing a certificate to the MVP, FERC ultimately conceded that whether the project meets the 8 Case 2:17-cv-04214 Document 155 Filed 12/29/17 Page 9 of 15 PageID #: 2396 “public use” requirement of the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause is beyond their jurisdiction, stating, “Only the courts can determine whether Congress’s action in passing section 7(h) of the NGA conflicts with the Constitution.” (See ORDER 63). Because the public purpose of this project has yet to be fully adjudicated any issuance of an injunction granting immediate access, possession, and construction is premature and thus not in the public interest. C. Immediate access threatens landowners’ ability to obtain just compensation guaranteed under the fifth amendment A grant of immediate possession poses a direct threat to a landowner’s ability to obtain just compensation. MVP claims it can remedy this threat by posting a bond prior to commencement of construction. This ignores; however, two harsh realities that landowners face is condemnation actions: 1) seldom is the bond posted by the condemning authority the same as the court’s final determination of just compensation (usually it is less) and 2) when a private company such as MVP gains possession prior to a trial on just compensation there is always the possibility that the company could go under and thereby avoid its responsibility to pay the remainder of just compensation or other lawfully owed fees. This concern rings especially true in the present case as MVP does currently own or operate any other existing pipelines and is made up of several different subsidiary companies all of whom have joined together only for the sole purpose of constructing and operating this project. (Certificate Order at 2) The limit on private entities ability to exercise the power of “quick take,” exists not as a sword to burden or delays private projects but rather a shield to protect a landowner’s ability to obtain just compensation under the 5th amendment of the United States Constitution. For this reason, a grant of immediate possession prior to judicially determined just compensation is improper. 9 Case 2:17-cv-04214 Document 155 Filed 12/29/17 Page 10 of 15 PageID #: 2397 D. MVP lacks a substantive right to condemn therefore it cannot prevail on the merits Should the court get beyond the above issues, it still cannot grant MVP the injunctive relief its requests, as it has failed to demonstrate it has a substantive right to exercise the power of eminent domain, a prerequisite to obtaining a remedy in equity. Because MVP’s certificate is conditional, MVP has no substantive right to eminent domain, for which this Court could fashion a remedy in equity to enforce. Conclusion As MVP cannot show that will suffer irreparable harm and a balance of the equities does not weigh in MVP’s favor, this court should deny MVP motion for a preliminary injunction in the form of immediate possession to begin construction. IV Eminent Domain Quick-Take Power A. Congress Never Granted Gas Companies Quick-Take Power Under the Natural Gas Act When Congress delegates the power of eminent domain it also has the power to prescribe the manner in which this power is delegated. 2,953.15 Acres of Land v. United States, 350 F.2d 356, 359 (5th Cir. 1965); See Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579, 585-86, 72 S. Ct. 863, 96 L. Ed. 1153 (1952). Eminent domain power when delegated can be exercised only in the manner authorized. Tuscarora Nation of Indians v. Power Authority, 257 F.2d 885, 894 (2d Cir.). Congress can directly grant two types of eminent domain authority: (1) the straight take or ordinary power of eminent domain; and (2) (2) the quick-take or extraordinary power of eminent. Kirby Forest Indus. v. United States, 467 U.S. 1, 3-4, 104 S. Ct. 2187, 2190-91 (1984). The first authorizes the condemning authority to takes possession of the land after an order of 10 Case 2:17-cv-04214 Document 155 Filed 12/29/17 Page 11 of 15 PageID #: 2398 condemnation and a trial determining just compensation has occurred. In contrast, the harsher (“quick-take”) power authorizes the condemning authority to take possession of property before a trial on just compensation. Congress has granted “quick-take” authority in only a limited number of statutes, such as the Atomic Energy Act and the Second War Powers Act, and only for use by the federal government, not private companies. See United States v. Parcel of Land, etc., 100 F. Supp. 498, 501, 503, n. 8 (D.D.C.1951). This limitation exists for good reason as “quick-take” poses serious due process concerns for private property owners. Unless Congress specifically grants the power of “quick-take” to a private condemnor, it is improper for the condemnor to exercise such power. Wash. Metro. Area Transit Auth., 706 F. 2d 1312. Courts examining this issue have made it clear that the NGA does not authorize quick-take power, nor can it be implied, because eminent domain statutes are strictly construed to exclude those rights not expressly granted. Humphries v. Williams Nat'l Gas Co., 48 F.Supp.2d 1276, 1281 (D.Kan.1999); see also Northern Border Pipeline Co. v. 86.72 Acres of Land, 144 F.3d 469, 471 (7th Cir.1998); Northwest Pipeline Corp. v. The 20″ x 1,430′ Pipeline Right of Way, 197 F.Supp.2d 1241, 1243– 1244 (E.D.Wash.2002); Northern Border Pipeline Co. v. 127.79 Acres of Land, More or Less in Williams County, N.D., 520 F. Supp. 170, 173 (D.C.N.D.1981). A party with the ordinary power of eminent domain has no right to an owner’s property until after just compensation is judicially determined and paid. See Kirby Forest , supra, at 3-5, 104 S. Ct. at 2190-91; Northern Border , 144 F.3d at 472 (explaining that “the Natural Gas Act does not create an entitlement to immediate possession of the land” without prior payment of compensation) see also Natural Gas Act, Section 717f(h)(conferring ordinary power of eminent domain). Because MVP has not alleged it has “quick take” power nor can it; it should be denied immediate access to begin construction. 11 Case 2:17-cv-04214 Document 155 Filed 12/29/17 Page 12 of 15 PageID #: 2399 B. Courts cannot authorize quick-take when Congress has not as such an action would be a clear violation of the Separation of Powers Doctrine The Constitution divides government into three distinct branches and “it is the duty of each to abstain from, and to oppose, encroachments on either Muskrat v. United States, 219 U.S. 346, 355-56 (1911). As such a court cannot substitute its will for that of the legislature. Purity Extract & Tonic Co. v. Lynch, 226 U.S. 192, 202 (1912). See Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 72 S. Ct. 863, 941, 343 U.S. 579, 692 (U.S. 1952). Once a court determines that Congress has not granted MVP quick-take power, its judicial inquiry should end. A party cannot use the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as MVP is doing here with FRCP 65, to unilaterally authorize MVP to exercise an additional power of eminent domain only Congress can grant by statute. Rules of procedure do not empower courts to enlarge the powers of eminent domain granted by Congress. “Courts are not at liberty to create an exception where Congress has declined to do so.” Freytag v. C.I.R., 501 U.S. 868, 874, 111 S. Ct. 2631, 2636 (1991). While “[t]he Supreme Court [has]. . . the power to prescribe general rules of practice and procedure . . . [s]uch rules shall not . . . enlarge or modify any substantive right.” 28 U.S.C. § 2072. By using the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to grant the quick-take power when Congress has withheld it, district courts impermissibly substitute their judgment for that of Congress. See Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dept. of Envtl. Prot, 560 U.S. 702, 723-24, 130 S. Ct. 2592, 2607 (2010) (stating that the “Florida Legislature” and “not [] the Florida Supreme Court” determines how to carry 12 Case 2:17-cv-04214 Document 155 Filed 12/29/17 Page 13 of 15 PageID #: 2400 out a taking and that the power to determine how “to effect a compensated taking” has “always reside[d]” with the Legislature). Because the NGA does not confer pipelines companies with quick take authority, this court must refrain from granting this authority in the form of an injunction. In Northern Border Pipeline Co. v. 86.72 Acres, 144 F.3d 469 (7th Cir. 1998), the Seventh Circuit held that general principles of equity prohibited courts from granting injunctive relief that gives a private gas company possession of an owner’s property before trial. The Seventh Circuit rejected the gas company’s argument that the “lack of quick-take authority should not defeat the company’s request for a preliminary injunction.” Id. at 472 (holding that there must be a specific source of statutory authority to allow private parties to take immediate possession of property they seek to condemn). Before engaging in the balancing test for injunctive relief, the Seventh Circuit noted that the gas company was not eligible for injunctive relief because it lacked the quick take power. The Seventh Circuit declared that because a gas company’s right to seize possession of the owner’s property will not “arise [until] the conclusion of the normal eminent domain process, [the gas company] is not eligible for the [injunctive] relief it seeks.” Id. at 471. The court explained that Congress granted private gas companies the ordinary power of eminent domain but not the extraordinary and additional quick-take power. Id. (“[T]he Natural Gas Act does not create an entitlement to immediate possession of the land.”). Id. at 472 and as such, the court could not use equitable powers to grant quick take authority to a party to which Congress has not granted such authority. Cases like Columbia Gas Transmission v. 1.01 Acres, 768 F.3d 300 (3d Cir. 2014) and East Tennessee Natural Gas Co. v. Sage, 361 F.3d 808 (4th Cir. 2004) and others which MVP cites to support its authority for immediate possession are inapposite because not a single one of these cases addressed the constitutional separation of powers issue. Columbia Gas focused largely on whether the pipeline’s “blanket” certificate conferred a substantive right to condemn property up to one mile outside the existing 13 Case 2:17-cv-04214 Document 155 Filed 12/29/17 Page 14 of 15 PageID #: 2401 easement. See Columbia Gas, 768 F.3d at 303. Finding a substantive right, the Third Circuit proceeded to evaluate whether the pipeline’s motion for immediate possession under traditional standards for injunctive relief, without ever analyzing the constitutionality of using its injunctive powers to grant a right that Congress never granted in the Natural Gas Act. East Tennessee Gas v. Sage, supra., suffers from the same infirmity in that it too, never addressed whether a court’s authorization of quick-take power in the absence of congressional authorization violated the separation of powers doctrine. Several of the other cases that Columbia cites examine whether the court’s use of injunctive power constituted an improper and overly broad use of a procedural rule to create a substantive right. However, these courts framed the issue as a matter of the scope of the court’s authority under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and not as a constitutional infirmity. See East Tennessee Gas, 361 F.3d at 823 (observing that proceedings in equity such as those under Rule 65 cannot be used to create substantive rights). Neither the Third or Fourth Circuit rulings cited by MVP prevent this Court from addressing Landowners’ constitutional challenge to the use by MVP of quick-take under the NGA. V Conclusion For the reasons stated above, the Court should deny MVP’s QuickTake Motion for partial summary judgment and immediate possession, and strictly limit the rights MVP seeks to acquire in this proceeding to only those rights granted in the Certificate, with all conditions imposed by FERC. Respectfully submitted, /s/Charles M. Lollar, Jr. Charles M. Lollar, Jr. W.V. I.D. No. 13105 Email: chip@lollarlaw.com Charles M. Lollar* 14 Case 2:17-cv-04214 Document 155 Filed 12/29/17 Page 15 of 15 PageID #: 2402 Email: chuck@lollarlaw.com LOLLAR LAW, PLLC 109 E. Main St., Suite 501 Norfolk, VA 23510 Phone: (757) 644-4657 Facsimile: (757) 644-4659 *Not admitted before this Court, Statement of Visiting Attorney filed C. Joseph Stevens W.V. I.D. No. 3604 Email: Joe@jstevenslaw.com W. Jack Stevens W.V. I.D. No. 7234 Email: Jackie@jstevenslaw.com STEVENS & STEVENS 8137 Court Avenue Hamlin, WV 25523 Phone (304) 824-5253 Facsimile (304) 824-7779 Counsel for Landowner Certificate of Service I hereby certify that on December 29, 2017, I electronically filed the foregoing Response and Brief in Opposition to the Motion for partial summary judgment and immediate possession with the Clerk of Court using the CM/ECF system, which will send notification of such filing to all counsel of record, including the following: Nicolle R. Snyder Bagnell REED SMITH Reed Smith Centre 225 Fifth Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15222 Email: nbagnell@reedsmith.com Counsel for Mountain Valley Pipeline, L.L.C. /s/Charles M. Lollar, Jr. Charles M. Lollar, Jr. W.V. I.D. No. 13105 15