XL Pipeline Lawsuit Filed Today

Environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Bold Alliance and the Sierra Club, filed suit against the federal government on March 30, seeking to stop the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

The suit, filed in federal district court in Montana, where the pipeline will cross the U.S.-Canadian border, claims the State Dept. illegally approved a presidential permit on March 24 that will allow the 1,200-mile TransCanada pipeline to be built.

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The lawsuit follows one filed March 27 by the Indigenous Environmental Network in the same court that also challenged the State Dept. permit.

Both suits claim the March 24 decision to proceed is deficient because it is based on old information — a 2014 supplemental environmental impact statement.

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In addition to the court battles, TransCanada will have to win approval for the pipeline in Nebraska, where the $8-billion line doesn’t yet have an approved route. The state’s public service commission is expected to take until September to review a revised route. TransCanada submitted the revised route application in February. If approved, the pipeline operator would have to initiate eminent domain proceedings against the 10% of landowners who have refused to work with the company. An earlier court decision prohibits TransCanada from taking that action before September.

  ENR