Continued Lawsuits Challenge Further Construction of KXL

After receiving the go-ahead by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on June 6 for TransCanada to continue construction on the Keystone XL pipeline project, ruling the issues associated with the previous permit are no longer valid since President Trump issued a new permit in March, opponents of the project are continuing the fight to ensure construction of the project remains blocked.

On July 10, attorneys for environmental groups against the project, including Northern Plains Resource Council and the Sierra Club, made a request to again block construction, stating the permit President Trump issued in March is illegal. They also claim that the project would make climate change worse by increasing fossil fuel consumption. The request was made in a lawsuit before U.S. District Judge Brian Morris in Great Falls, who had issued an injunction on the construction of the project in November of 2018, of which the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had overturned in June.

This is the second lawsuit this month filed by the attorneys as on July 1 a lawsuit was also filed to cancel approvals issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada. The attorneys argued the Army Corps did not examine the potential for oil spills and other environmental damages when it approved plans submitted by pipeline developer TC Energy, formerly known as TransCanada. The lawsuit states that almost all of the crossings in the 1,184 mile path from Canada to Nebraska fall under an Army Corps program that gives blanket approval to individual pieces of a bigger project without considering the potential cumulative impacts. Therefore no analysis was done of the possibilities that the line would break and cause an oil spill or of its potential contribution to climate change, states the lawsuit.

In light of the lawsuit issued earlier this month, Governor Bullock criticized the Trump administration for not consulting with the Native Americans whose land the project would pass through. “I’ve said from the beginning that, look, if it’s done right we can’t take it off the table,” stated Governor Bullock during an online meeting about climate change held from the Montana Capitol on July 1.

A separate lawsuit is also in the works challenging the President’s action of issuing a new permit in federal court. The lawsuit filed by the attorneys for the environmental groupd hope their efforts provide another means to either delay or stop the construction should the permit be upheld. The U.S. Justice Department attorneys also defended the Trump administration’s handling of the pipeline in legal papers filed June 28 in relation to this lawsuit.

In addition to these lawsuits, the environmental groups have also filed notice they intend to sue the President over the potential harm to imperiled species the pipeline project might cause. They state the building of the line could kill birds such as the whooping crane and piping plover as well as endanger fish such as the pallid sturgeon.

Until a resolution is in place for these lawsuits, TC Energy could continue construction on the project. However, prior to the injunction being lifted in June, TC Energy stated it was too late in the construction season to begin work.