A federal judge ordered the State Department Wednesday night to do a more extensive environmental review of a revised path of the Keystone XL pipeline, which could further delay a project that’s been in development for a decade.
U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris of Montana said the Trump administration must do a full environmental impact statement for the route. That review would have to be more thorough than a draft environmental assessment that the State Department released last month that found the new Keystone XL route would cause no significant harm to water supplies or wildlife.
Environmental groups who were plaintiffs in the lawsuit cheered the court ruling, and said it should encourage Keystone’s developer, TransCanada, to scrap the project.
“Today’s ruling is a victory for clean water, climate, and communities that would be threatened by the Keystone XL pipeline,” said Sierra Club Senior Attorney Doug Hayes. “This proposed project has been stalled for nearly a decade because it would be all risk and no reward, and despite the Trump administration’s efforts, they cannot force this dirty tar sands pipeline on the American people. It’s time for TransCanada to give up on their Keystone XL pipe dream.”
The requirement for a lengthier environmental review comes after Nebraska regulators last year approved an in-state permit for Keystone XL, the last major regulatory hurdle facing the project. But they rejected TransCanada’s preferred route, and approved an alternative that would move the pipeline further east.
The $8 billion Keystone XL pipeline would send oil from Canada’s Alberta oil sands to Steele City, Neb., and then on to refineries along the Gulf Coast. But it has been challenged by environmental advocates worried about spills and climate change.
The Obama State Department considered the application for seven years before President Barack Obama rejected it in November 2015, a month before signing the Paris climate change agreement.
The Trump administration granted a cross-border permit in March, but the pipeline still needed approval by the five-member Nebraska Public Service Commission to be built in the state.
The original section of the Keystone pipeline system opened in 2010. Keystone XL would be an addition of 1,179 miles to the existing 2,687-mile network.
Supporters of Keystone XL, including many labor unions and business groups, consider the pipeline an economic boon that would create jobs and transport oil more safely than train or truck.
TransCanada has not made a decision on whether to commit to investing in the project, as it debates whether it’s still economically viable for the company after years of delays.
Still, the developer hoped to begin preliminary work this fall on the pipeline in Montana before starting construction in 2019.
