Judge Halts Pipeline Construction

The Glasgow Courier reports a federal judge in Great Falls on Thursday halted construction of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline and vacated a 2017 presidential permit issued by the U.S. State Department. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Brian Morris wrote that the State Department’s analysis of several issues, including increased greenhouse gas emissions, spill procedures and market modeling, failed to meet the standard of federal environmental laws. Equipment has been seen moving through eastern Montana and pipeline owner TransCanada Corp. is planning a meeting next Tuesday to discuss the project. Judge Morris is requiring the State Department to complete a supplement to its 2014 Environmental Impact Statement for the 1,179-mile pipeline, which is proposed to start in the tar sands of British Columbia, run through parts of Montana and South Dakota and connect to a pipeline in Nebraska.