The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a petition for review in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals challenging two Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approvals of a 677-mile natural gas pipeline that would cut across Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. Ctr. for Biological Diversity v. BLM, No. N/A (9th Cir. filed 7/30/10). Petitioners are challenging BLM’s decisions to issue rights of way on federal lands as well as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services’ reviews of the project’s impacts on endangered species.
Petitioners filed their petition in the federal appeals court under a provision of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 that allows petitioners to bypass district courts for challenges to energy projects. According to petitioners, the proposed pipeline would use more than 400 million gallons of water over the next few years causing severe damage to rivers and streams that are sensitive habitats for fish and wildlife species. Petitioners cite the services’ error in failing to consider the potential for a pipeline rupture at stream crossings along the proposed route. See BNA Daily Environment Report, August 3, 2010.
