A Montana federal judge has invalidated a key permit for the Keystone XL pipeline. In an order issued Wednesday, Judge Brian Morris says a permit issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers bypassed necessary environmental reviews. The order says TC Energy, formerly TransCanada, cannot build across waterways along the pipeline route until the Corps does more work on the permit. SDPB’s Victoria Wicks has this report.
Doug Hayes is an attorney for the Sierra Club, one of six environmental agencies that sued the Corps of Engineers. Hayes says the Corps used a streamlined approval process called Nationwide Permit Number 12 that precludes public review and circumvents transparent approval processes.
“The pipeline would cross approx 688 different waterways, rivers, streams and wetlands across MT SD and NE, and the Army Corps of Engineers is the agency that approves those crossings.”
In the order, the federal court notes that the expedited permit is used when a project will result in minimal damage to “aquatic environments.” Judge Brian Morris also notes that the Corps failed to consult the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or National Marine Fisheries Service before determining that pipeline construction would have no effect on endangered species or critical habitat.
Hayes says the Corps has to do further environmental review and consultation under the Endangered Species Act before it can reissue the permit.
“TC Energy cannot build through any of the waterways along the pipeline route until it revamps its approval process.”
This order comes out the day before Judge Morris hears arguments in two more challenges to the Keystone XL pipeline. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Fort Belknap Indian Community, Indigenous Environmental Network, and North Coast Rivers Alliance have asked the court to stop the pipeline for various reasons, including violation of treaties, encroachment on trust land, lack of consultation, and potential contamination of land and water.