Stay up to date with the latest transportation news by receiving TTNews directly in your email. ]
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court decided on June 24 that it would consider reviving an approval for a railroad which would carry crude petroleum and increase fossil fuel production in rural east Utah.
The justices will review a ruling of an appeals court that reversed the Surface Transportation Board’s approval for the Uinta Basin Railway. This 88-mile rail line was approved by the Surface Transportation Board. Arguments will be held in the fall.
The rail line will connect rural Utah oil and gas producers to the wider rail network. This will allow them to access larger markets, and ultimately sell their products to refineries near Gulf of Mexico. Producers who have to use tanker truck will be able to ship 350,000 barrels more of crude oil per day on trains that can extend up to 2 miles.
The railway project is being pursued by a public-private partner between the infrastructure development and investment company DHIP Group, based in Winter Park, Fla. and the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition (a body formed by officials from eastern Utah).
Oil companies and the Ute Indian Tribe from the Uintah and Ouray Reservation are also supporters. They have argued the railroad would boost energy production and help struggling local economies.
(Rick Bowmer/Associated Press, File) On July 13, 2023, oil is stored in containers on public land south of Duchesne. (Rick Bowmer/Associated Press, File)
It is more difficult to transport the type of oil that will be exported from Utah, waxy crude oil which is semi-solid when at room temperature. Currently, it is heated and shipped in trucks with insulation.
Project proponents claim that the oil’s consistency makes it easier to clean after spills and less harmful.
The Supreme Court’s decision to hear the case gave developers of the railroad a reason for optimism.
Corey Cox, of the Tandet Group, discusses how early AI users are beginning to reap the benefits of the latest wave. Tune in above or by going to RoadSigns.ttnews.com.
Keith Heaton, Director of the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition said in a press release that the project was vital for the economic development and connectivity of Uinta basin region. We are committed to completing it.
Environmental groups and Eagle County in Colorado, which filed a lawsuit to stop the project, are still concerned about safety and possible train derailments. The oil trains would enter Colorado from the railway in Utah and follow the Colorado River upstream, over the Rocky Mountains and to Denver.
Both Democrats, Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet and U.S. Rep Joe Neguse oppose the project. They claim that an oil spill at the headwaters of the Colorado River would be catastrophic.
Environmental groups also claim that the rail line would allow for more oil to extracted and burned, contributing climate change.
The federal appeals courts in Washington ruled that the Surface Transportation Board rushed its environmental approval and violated federal laws.
The Supreme Court will decide whether the agency should have considered the environmental impact of the railroad’s main shipment, both in Utah where the oil was drilled and on the Gulf Coast where it was refined, even though they had no regulatory authority to regulate oil production.
In a statement, Wendy Park, a senior lawyer at the Center for Biological Diversity said that it was disappointing that the Supreme Court decided to take up the case. However, the appellate court’s ruling on this destructive project was legally sound and should stand.
The group pointed out that the railroad would still require additional government approvals and reviews even if the developers win in the Supreme Court.