Appeals court strikes down Utah oil railroad approval, siding with environmentalists
A U.S. Appeals Court has struck down a critical approval for a railroad project that would have allowed oil businesses in eastern Utah to significantly expand fossil fuel production and exports
SALT LAKE CITY — A U.S. Appeals Court on Friday struck down a critical approval for a railroad project that would have allowed oil businesses in eastern Utah to significantly expand fossil fuel production and exports.
The ruling is the latest development in the fight over the proposed Uinta Basin Railway, an 88-mile (142-kilometer) railroad line that 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. The railroad would let producers, currently limited to tanker trucks, ship an additional 350,000 barrels of crude daily on trains extending for up to 2 miles (3.2 kilometers).
The Washington, D.C.-based appeals court ruled that a 2021 environmental impact statement and biological opinion from the federal Surface Transportation Board were rushed and violated federal laws. It sided with environmental groups and Colorado's Eagle County, which had sued to challenge the approval.
The court said the board had engaged in only a “paltry discussion” of the environmental impact the project could have on the communities and species who would live along the line and the “downline” communities who live along railroads where oil trains would travel.
“The limited weighing of the other environmental policies the board did undertake fails to demonstrate any serious grappling with the significant potential for environmental harm stemming from the project,” the ruling stated.
Surface Transportation Board spokesperson Michael
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