A federal appeals court has scheduled a hearing next week to review a judge’s order halting construction of a crude oil pipeline in the Atchafalaya Basin.
Bayou Bridge Pipeline LLC asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for an “emergency stay” that would lift the suspension of construction work while it appeals the judge’s ruling.
A three-member panel from the 5th Circuit is scheduled to hear to arguments on the request next Tuesday.
On Feb. 23, U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick sided with environmental groups and issued a preliminary injunction stopping all Bayou Bridge pipeline construction work in the Atchafalaya Basin until the groups’ lawsuit is resolved.
In a court filing last Friday, company attorneys claimed Dick’s ruling “fails the basic requirements” for issuing such an order.
Dick concluded the project’s irreversible environmental damage outweighs the economic harm that a delay brings to the company. Her order applies only to the basin and doesn’t prevent the company from working elsewhere along the pipeline’s 162-mile-long path from Lake Charles to St. James Parish.
Sierra Club and other environmental groups sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in January, claiming it violated the Clean Water Act and other environmental laws when it approved a permit for the project.
The groups and Bayou Bridge disagree on whether the company could immediately resume construction in the basin if the 5th Circuit lifts the preliminary injunction.
