"Groups Sue To Block Construction Of Louisiana Oil Pipeline"

"BATON ROUGE, La. — Environmental groups have sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a bid to block construction of a 162-mile-long (261-kilometer) crude oil pipeline across south Louisiana, including through the environmentally fragile Atchafalaya Basin river swamp.

The federal lawsuit filed Thursday claims the Corps violated the Clean Water Act and other environmental laws when it approved a permit for the Bayou Bridge Pipeline project in December.

Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners plans to build the 24-inch-wide (60-centimeter-wide) pipeline from Lake Charles to St. James Parish, which is about 60 miles (95 kilometers) west of New Orleans. The same company built the Dakota Access pipeline, a project that sparked a string of violent clashes between protesters and police in North Dakota in 2016 and 2017."

Michael Kunzelman reports for the Associated Press January 12, 2018.