Appeals Court Allows Pipeline Work To Resume

A federal appeals court reversed a decision by a lower court to allow construction on the Bayou Bridge Pipeline to continue. A three-judge panel in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans voted 2-1 to allow construction.

The decision came in February after a three-week shutdown forced by U.S. district judge Shelly Dick’s earlier decision, which was issued in response to a lawsuit filed by anti-carbon activists.

The lawsuit—filed by the Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, the Louisiana Crawfish Producers, Gulf Restoration Network, Waterkeeper Alliance and the Sierra Club—challenged the Army Corps of Engineers’ finding of “no significant impact” from the project.

The pipeline is being built by Energy Transfer Partners, the same company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline that drew protests last year. ETP said in court filings that stopping construction in the basin would cost it nearly $1 million daily and $25 million monthly.

Construction on the 162-mile line—set to transport oil from Lake Charles to St. James—began in January.