A federal appeals court has paved the way for utilities to finish the final mile of a contested Midwest transmission line through the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed last week a lower court’s preliminary injunction blocking completion of the 101-mile Cardinal-Hickory Creek line, which would run from Iowa to Wisconsin. The injunction prohibited developers from acquiring a needed easement through the refuge and the Mississippi River in a land exchange with the federal government.
The two-page order could be a final act in a legal saga as utilities indicated they will seek to complete the land swap Thursday. They also previously signaled a desire to begin work on the final segment of the project — which is in western Wisconsin — as soon as possible.
Three conservation groups seeking to block the line haven’t given up, however. They filed a request Wednesday with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin to renew the preliminary injunction and buy time while the court weighs in on the case.
