A pair of Montana residents urged the state environmental agency on Friday to rescind a waiver easing the permitting requirements for the proposed Bridger Pipeline expansion that would boost flows of Canada crude oil into the United States.
The project, put forward by a subsidiary of Bridger Pipeline, would transport oil from the U.S.- Canada border in Montana to a crude oil hub in southeast Wyoming. In late April the proposal got a major boost after President Donald Trump issued a presidential permit for Bridger to construct and operate pipeline facilities at the border.
But now, the two Montana residents are challenging a waiver issued by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in February that allowed Bridger to omit certain information from its certificate application to the agency, according to a Friday letter sent by Earthjustice. The organization said Montana DEQ ignored requirements for public notice of the waiver request and a hearing.
The DEQ’s decision to grant the waiver violates Montana’s Major Facility Siting Act, the letter said, and breaks “agency’s administrative rules, exceeds the agency’s statutory authority, was arbitrary and capricious, and was based on unlawful process.” In a related news release, Earthjustice said DEQ “appears to be putting its finger on the scales in favor of industry.”
