Judge Denies Bayou Bridge Request To Continue Construction In Basin

A federal judge has denied Bayou Bridge Pipeline's request to continue construction in the Atchafalaya Basin.

Judge Shelly K. Dick, of the U.S. Middle District of Louisiana, ordered on Friday that the company must stop work in the Basin while a lawsuit pays out over their permit to build there. The order granted an injunction sought by environmental groups who sued to stop the project, and Bayou Bridge sought a stay of that ruling.

Dick denied that motion on Monday.

Earthjustice filed the suit on behalf of Atchafalaya Basinkeeper, Louisiana Crawfish Producers Association West, Waterkeeper Alliance and Sierra Club. They seek the revocation of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit for Basin construction...

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Corps Was "Arbitrary And Capricious" In Granting Bayou Bridge Pipeline Permit: Federal Judge

The Army Corps of Engineers was "arbitrary and capricious" in some of its decisions granting construction permits for the controversial Bayou Bridge Pipeline, a federal judge indicating in a ruling halting the pipeline's construction until the issue can be heard in court.

In a written opinion issued late Tuesday (Feb. 27), U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick charged that the Army Corps of Engineers was "arbitrary and capricious" in concluding that a more detailed analysis was not needed before determining that the project's environmental effects could be legally offset by the company buying credits equivalent to more than 2,000 acres of damaged wetlands at mitigation banks located in different ecological areas miles from the pipeline route.

She also agreed with environmental groups that construction of the pipeline posed a threat of irreparable harm to both ancient trees within the Atchafalaya basin and to its hydrology, the flow of water through the basin...

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Federal Judge: Work On Bayou Bridge Pipeline Stopped In Atchafalaya Basin, Can Continue Elsewhere

A federal court order temporarily blocking construction of the Bayou Bridge pipeline is limited to the Atchafalaya Basin, and work can continue elsewhere along the length of the 163-mile crude oil line, a judge ordered this week.

U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick clarified her Friday order stopping work with a 60-page ruling released Tuesday night, finding that environmental groups made enough of a case so far to suggest the pipeline poses permanent and irreparable risks to the basin's hydrology and environment, including to 1,000-year-old cypress in the path of the line.

"The Court finds the temporary delay in reaping economic benefits does not outweigh the permanent harm to the environment that has been established as a result of the pipeline construction," Dick wrote...

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