WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th December, 2020) Twelve US states joined the legal fight to halt the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline over violations of wildlife and endangered species protections, court documents revealed on Wednesday.
"This case concerns the legality of the Army Corps of Engineers' reauthorization of... construction of electrical lines, pipelines, and utility projects resulting in encroachments on wetlands and other waters of the United States," the document said.
The legal challenge said the permit was approved without consulting Federal wildlife agencies about the environmental impact of the construction in violation of the Endangered Species Act.
The amicus brief, filed with the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, was in support of a legal challenge by environmentalists led by The Northern Plains Resource Council, an American grassroots conservation group.
Earlier this year, a federal court ruled that the Army Corps violated the Endangered Species Act and vacated the permit that allows expedited construction. The pipeline company has appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit Court.
Keystone is an oil pipeline system that moves a crude oil from the Canadian province of Alberta to the US states of Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas. The first three phases of the system are currently operational, however, the construction of the fourth phase, better known as Keystone XL, which is planned to transport oil to Nebraska, has become a partisan political issue in the United States.
The Obama administration blocked the pipeline project for eight years. The Trump administration authorized construction while the campaign of presumed President-elect Joe Biden announced plans to halt the project.
In September, US Supreme Court rejected a request from the Trump administration and TC Energy to dismiss a lower court ruling blocking further construction of the pipeline because of a violation related to a water-crossing permit.
