Publish Date : 10-Aug-2012
Sidley Austin LLP has successfully represented TransCanada Keystone Pipeline and TransCanada Corporation against efforts to secure a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to block the start of construction on the Gulf Coast Project connecting Cushing, Oklahoma with refineries on the Gulf Coast. The project will relieve a bottleneck in pipeline infrastructure, allowing refinery operators to replace imported crude oil with oil produced in North America.
The Sierra Club and others filed suit against TransCanada challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) issuance of nationwide permit (NWP) 12, alleging that the Corps violated the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act by authorizing work on the project.
TransCanada’s Gulf Coast Pipeline, as with most other pipelines, will cross stream and wetland areas regarded by the Corps and the Environmental Protection Agency as “waters of the United States.†As such, TransCanada had applied for and received verification from the Corps that its project falls within the scope of NWP 12, which authorizes the construction, maintenance, repair and removal of utility lines and assorted facilities, including pipelines. This means the Corps determined TransCanada’s activities for which NWP 12 was issued would not have more than a minimal adverse impact on the environment.
The plaintiffs in this case were unsuccessful in their argument that this project’s impact on the environment would be of greater significance, resulting in the court’s denial of application for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction.
Sidley Austin LLP is a premier full-service law firm with approximately 1700 lawyers practicing in 18 U.S. and international cities, including Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. This year, Sidley celebrates 30 years in Asia. Repeating its performance in the inaugural 2010 survey, Sidley received the most first-tier national rankings of any U.S. law firm in the 2011/12 U.S.News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms†survey. Sidley was also named the U.S.News – Best Lawyers “Law Firm of the Year†in both Corporate Law and Securities Regulation in the 2011/12 survey (the first year of such designations). BTI, a Boston-based research and consulting firm, has named Sidley as one of only three firms to have been in the top ten of the BTI Client Service rankings every year since the inception of those rankings in 2001, and as number one in three of those years.
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