The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Oct. 19 suspended water crossing authorizations in two counties of West Virginia for the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline. The Corps stated that because more than a thousand water crossing verifications are currently suspended along the majority of the 303-mile pipeline route in that area, it considers it appropriate to also suspend the Pittsburgh district crossings. The decision comes after earlier this month the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ordered another halt to construction activity on all portions of the Mountain Valley natural gas pipeline ruling that the Army Corps of Engineers had instituted inadequate requirements for how the pipeline should cross streams in West Virginia, just a few weeks after some sections had resumed construction. The troubled pipeline would supply up to two million dekatherms per day of natural gas to markets in the Mid- and South Atlantic regions. The $4.6-billion project is a joint venture of EQT Midstream Partners LP, NextEra US Gas Assets LLC, Con Edison Transmission Inc., WGL Midstream, and RGC Midstream LLC.