WASHINGTON, D.C. – The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans recently struck down a ruling by Obama-era, federal judge Shelley Dick that had halted construction of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline.
The federal appeals court lifted the order, saying that the district court “abused its discretion in granting a preliminary injunction.”
Congressman Higgins issued the following statement:
“The Bayou Bridge Pipeline represents a $750 million investment and thousands of jobs for South Louisiana. This project has undergone a rigorous and thorough environmental review process, receiving every required permit before starting construction. This was as by-the-books as it gets. I’m glad to see the federal appeals court restoring some sanity to this process by reversing what was a politically-charged decision by an Obama-appointed, activist judge. This was weaponized litigation, an example of the toxic legal environment that discourages industrial expansion in Louisiana. We can’t expect to compete internationally for private investment if we continue to allow politically-slanted plaintiffs and activist judges to wage war on the oil and gas industry.”
