A federal judge has blocked construction of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, overturning President Donald Trump’s approval of the pipeline and ordering Trump’s state department to revisit environmental concerns about the project.
The proposed oil pipeline would run through Seward county, and many property owners in the area have already signed real estate agreements with TransCanada, the company hoping to build the pipeline.
Environmental supporters and attorneys held a press conference Nov. 9 to give additional details and answer questions.
Those who spoke at the conference included attorneys and representatives from seven indigenous, landowner and environmental groups.
According to a press release from Bold Nebraska, “U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris found that the Trump administration’s reliance on a stale environmental review from 2014 violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative Procedure Act.”
His ruling follows the court’s previous decision on Aug. 15 to require additional analysis of the new proposed route through Nebraska.
The court ordered the State Department to revise its environmental analysis and prohibited any work along the proposed route, which crosses Nebraska, South Dakota and Montana, until that analysis is complete.
The State Department also must provide a reasoned explanation for its decision to approve the permit after the Obama administration denied it three years ago on the same set of facts.
“Within days of taking office, the president ordered a new decision to be made within 60 days, which did not allow enough time to follow all the laws and processes,” said Doug Hayes, senior attorney in the Environmental Law Program with the Sierra Club.
“The State Department didn’t conduct any additional review or environmental processes beyond what was done in 2014,” Hayes said.
He said the Trump administration violated the National Environmental Policy Act by not supplementing its reversal of the initial decision with additional information.
In his decision, Morris ordered that the administration must re-evaluate the entire pipeline project.
Hayes said the order states that the administration must look at how the dramatic drop in oil prices and changes in the oil market affect the project, the cumulative climate impact of all pipelines together (not each one individually) and new information on oil spills since the initial study was done in 2014, including major spills on TransCanada’s Keystone One pipeline.
Hayes also said the administration violated the Administrator Procedure Act by not explaining its reason for reversing Obama’s decision.
“Simply put, it stops it dead in its tracks,” Hayes said, adding that TransCanada had planned to begin construction of the pipeline in February.
He said the new analysis will take six months to a year, and possibly longer because so many agencies must be involved.
“As the world continues to shift toward clean energy, the demand (for oil) continues to plummet,” Hayes said, adding that current oil prices would not be high enough for TransCanada to break even on the cost to extract the tar sands oil.
“We’re confident, based on all this, that the pipeline will never be built,” Hayes said.
Brian Jorde, an attorney with Domina Law Group, which is working against the pipeline, said the pipeline would cross Nebraska with 280 miles of pipe.
“Is it possible it will be built? Of course it’s possible, it just keeps getting less possible,” Jorde said. “They’ve been at this for so many years and clearly not making much headway since Trump’s administration.”
TransCanada has remained mostly quiet about the ruling, issuing the following statement:
“We have received the judge’s ruling and continue to review it. We remain committed to building this important energy infrastructure project.”
Hayes said TransCanada could appeal the judge’s decision, but the company has not yet stated an intention to do so.
Other entities represented at the press conference included the Northern Plains Resource Council, Bold Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth, Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club.
Dallas Goldtooth with the Indigenous Environmental Network said the judge’s decision also stated that TransCanada and the Trump administration must consult with tribal nations whose land falls within the proposed pipeline route.
“Over 1,000 acres have received no cultural survey whatsoever,” Dallas said.
The survey helps ensure that the pipeline would not disrupt any culturally significant sites.
In Nebraska, 60 percent of landowners along the proposed pipeline route have signed on to the project.
In Seward County, 54 property owners have signed contracts with TransCanada, giving the company easements on their land to build the pipeline.
Jorde said TransCanada will get to keep those easements, even if the pipeline isn’t built.
“Once a landowner signs up, it doesn’t matter if that company gets approval, they still own it,” he said. “That’s the danger of trying to outsmart a project. The reality is, TransCanada still owns the rights and may hold that easement forever and ever.”
emily@sewardindependent.com
