Federal Court Upholds Ruling Blocking Construction of Keystone XL and Other Oil and Gas Pipelines

Court blocks the use of Nationwide Permit 12 for pipeline water crossings

Great Falls, MT May 11— A federal judge today largely upheld an April 15 ruling vacating Nationwide Permit 12, a key water crossing permit used byTC Energy’s Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and many other pipelines nationwide. The April ruling held that the Corps violated the Endangered Species Act in issuing Nationwide Permit 12 and prohibited the Corps from using this fast-tracked approval process for any projects, effectively blocking construction through hundreds of water crossings along the Keystone XL pipeline route.

Today, in response to requests from the parties to narrow the ruling, the court allowed some minor projects to proceed under Nationwide Permit 12, but reaffirmed that the Army Corps cannot use the permit to approve the construction of Keystone XL or other oil and gas pipelines.

“Federal courts have again prevented a Trump administration attempt to ignore our laws and rubber-stamp permits for pipelines to poison our waterways, and threaten endangered species like the whooping crane in Nebraska,” said Bold Alliance president Jane Kleeb. “After today’s ruling that confirms the broad existing ban on projects like Keystone XL construction across waterways, TC Energy should immediately halt all activity on this tarsands pipeline that makes zero sense financially, and unnecessarily puts rural and Tribal communities at further risk during the coronavirus pandemic.”