Gee, What Next? SCOTUS To Consider Appeal Of Decision Blocking Utah Oil Trains Along Colorado River
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to consider reviving a critical approval for a railroad project that would carry crude oil and boost fossil fuel production in rural eastern Utah. The justices will review an appeals court ruling that overturned the approval issued by the Surface Transportation Board for the Uinta Basin Railway, an 88-mile (142-kilometer) railroad line. Arguments will take place in the fall.
The rail line would connect oil and gas producers in rural Utah to the broader rail network, allowing them to access larger markets and ultimately sell to refineries near the Gulf of Mexico. Producers who are currently limited to tanker trucks would be able to ship an additional 350,000 barrels of crude daily on trains extending for up to 2 miles (3.2 kilometers). The railway is being pursued through a public-private partnership between infrastructure development and investment firm DHIP Group in Winter Park, Florida, and the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition, a body formed by eastern Utah officials.
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Environmental groups also contend that the rail line will allow more oil to be extracted and burned, contributing to climate change. The federal appeals court in Washington ruled last year that the Surface Transportation Board’s environmental approval was rushed and violated federal law.
The issue at the Supreme Court is whether the agency should have weighed the potential environmental harm of the railroad’s main cargo, both where the oil is drilled in Utah and refined on the Gulf Coast, when it has no regulatory authority over oil production. “It’s disappointing the Supreme Court took up this case but the appellate court’s decision on this destructive project is legally sound and should ultimately stand,” Wendy Park, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.
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https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-utah-uinta-basin-railway-oil-d6dfb030e7176d8bfed30906ad839981