Seeking to wrap up construction on a project long ensnared in a tangle of legal and regulatory complications, Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC (MVP) will pursue a new strategy to obtain the waterbody and wetlands crossing approvals that represent the natural gas conduit’s final permitting hurdle.

Instead of waiting out the legal process on its stayed Nationwide Permit 12 waterbody crossing permits, the pipeline will submit a new joint application to the Huntington, Pittsburgh and Norfolk districts of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, MVP’s deputy general counsel Todd Normane wrote in a letter to federal agencies and state regulators in Virginia and West Virginia Tuesday.

MVP will seek permitting to use open cut techniques for certain waterbodies and wetlands under Section 404 of...