HOUSTON -- Two separate court proceedings against the construction of a portion of the Keystone XL pipeline project in Texas have been delayed, but the landowner who brought the suits is still vowing to continue his fight.

Yesterday, a judge with a Nacogdoches County court asked TransCanada Corp. and retired chemist Michael Bishop to refile their briefs in the case in order to determine whether or not the case should be moved to a higher court.

Bishop is fighting to stop construction of the pipeline on land he owns, arguing that TransCanada did not properly disclose what material would be carried through Keystone XL once it is fully built.

Judge Jack Sinz initially granted Bishop a temporary restraining order to halt construction activities on his property, but that order was rescinded by Sinz at the request of TransCanada attorneys last week. Protesters fighting the pipeline project say construction has since resumed on Bishop's land.

Attendees at yesterday's hearing said Judge Sinz questioned whether his county court was even the right venue to hear the case. He asked the plaintiff and defendants to resubmit briefs about where they believe the proper court venue should be and whether the case should be shifted to a district court.

A separate case related to the Keystone XL construction moving through a Travis County courtroom is also being slowed by procedural delays.

Bishop is separately suing the Texas Railroad Commission for allowing TransCanada to move forward with its project by proclaiming a right of eminent domain in order to persuade landowners to cut deals with the company. A hearing for that case held Monday ended in postponement.

In an interview, Bishop explained that he was told by the judge overseeing that case that he had improperly filed the suit in the first place, sending notice to the secretary of state's office rather than directly to the Railroad Commission. Bishop argued that he was merely following the secretary of state's office's instructions.

The case in Nacogdoches is attracting more attention, however, because of the particular legal maneuver Bishop is attempting.

Other landowners have sued TransCanada on the grounds that the company cannot proclaim that Keystone XL will enjoy common carrier status. A declaration that a development project will benefit the public gives companies grounds for declaring eminent domain over private parcels of land.

TransCanada has so far won all court challenges against it on those grounds.

But Bishop is claiming that the company defrauded him by failing to declare in their agreement that the pipeline would be used to move diluted bitumen. Bishop and environmentalists supporting his cause argue that the diluted bitumen obtained from the Canadian tar sands projects is fundamentally different from standard crude oil.

TransCanada says that Bishop was fully informed that the pipeline would be used to carry petroleum products, including tar sands-derived oil.

Bishop disagrees and says he will continue to pursue both cases. But he expressed frustration with the delays by the courts to the cases that he says he's ready to argue now.

"It tells me that they're more concerned about doing legal manipulation and semantics and word games than they are hearing about the truth," Bishop said. "All I want to do is litigate the goddamn thing; let's get it over with and move on down the road."

At press time, no new hearings had been set for either Bishop's suit against the Railroad Commission or the complaint against TransCanada.

Environmentalists are also moving forward with plans to increase the pressure on TransCanada and the federal government at the start of 2013.

Ron Seifert, a spokesman for the Tar Sands Blockade, told EnergyWire that his group will host at least 140 people at an "action camp" in east Texas to organize and train for a major protest action against the Keystone XL project in the new year. Seifert predicted that up to 200 or more people could end up participating.

Major national environmental groups are also planning another anti-Keystone XL rally in Washington, D.C., saying they plan to hold that protest on Feb. 18, Presidents Day. The groups will try to pressure the Obama administration to deny TransCanada's new request to expand the Keystone XL project across the U.S.-Canada border.