May 15, 2008 8:28:00 PM MST
North Dakota judge denies attempt to halt Keystone oil pipeline
BISMARCK, N.D. _ A judge has refused to stop a crude-oil pipeline that TransCanada Corp. (TSX:TRP) wants to build in eastern North Dakota, saying state regulators considered adequate safety precautions in approving its route.
A project spokesman said construction should begin next week.
North Dakota´s Public Service Commission did a lengthy factual and legal review in drafting its order to allow construction of the Keystone pipeline, South Central District Judge Gail Hagerty said in her ruling Thursday.
Hagerty´s decision says she believes Keystone´s developers are likely to win a North Dakota Supreme Court challenge of the commission´s ruling, should its opponents decide to undertake one.
"It would seem a reasoning mind could reasonably have determined that the findings are supported by the weight of the evidence," Hagerty wrote.
The Dakota Resource Council, a Dickinson-based environmental group, and several landowners along the pipeline´s route are asking Hagerty to order the commission to reconsider the pipeline route it approved in February.
They contend the pipeline´s proposed route is too close to important water supplies, including the Fordville aquifer in Walsh County and Lake Ashtabula, which provides a backup water supply for the city of Fargo.
Jana Linderman, an attorney for Plains Justice, a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, organization that is pursuing the appeal, said Hagerty´s ruling means pipeline construction may go ahead while the dispute continues over what its route should be.
The decision does not affect pipeline opponents´ legal fight to force the Public Service Commission to reconsider the pipeline route, Linderman said. A decision on that issue will come later, she said.
"We´re not pleased with the judge´s ruling, because we really would have liked to just leave things as they are until the appeal is decided," Linderman said. "But that doesn´t preclude proceeding with the rest of the appeal."
Jeff Rauh, a project spokesman, said Hagerty´s ruling demonstrated that "water and aquifer issues have been appropriately reviewed" by the Public Service Commission.
Clearing brush and trees along the pipeline´s route should begin next week, Rauh said. Trench digging and pipe laying are expected to start in early June.
In her ruling, Hagerty said the Dakota Resource Council and the opposing landowners are likely to lose their attempt to force the Public Service Commission to reconsider the pipeline´s route. Pipeline opponents misinterpreted state law in making some of their arguments, she said.
"No North Dakota statute requires the commission to accept only the safest available route," Hagerty´s decision says. "Instead, (the law) mandates only that the sites and routes of transmission facilities be chosen to minimize adverse human and environmental impact."
The Keystone pipeline, which is being developed by TransCanada, is being built to carry oil from Alberta to locations in Illinois and Oklahoma. Its planned route stretches for 350 kilometres through eight eastern North Dakota counties.
Rauh said the North Dakota work will be the first Keystone construction work to take place in the United States. TransCanada hopes to begin operating the pipeline in late 2009.
