Group sues over natural gas pipeline that would cut through 5 states, including Utah

SALT LAKE CITY — The Center for Biological Diversity, based in Tucson, Ariz., filed a federal lawsuit Friday challenging the 677-mile Ruby natural gas pipeline, asserting it would cut across some of the most pristine and remote lands in Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and California.

Filed in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the lawsuit says the $3 billion pipeline will cross more than 1,000 rivers and streams, affecting crucial habitat for several endangered fish species, and will use more than 400 million gallons of water over the next several years from an increasingly arid area.

"The Ruby Pipeline will cause severe damage to rivers and streams, sensitive habitats for a host of fish and wildlife species and some of the most pristine lands in western North America," said Noah Greenwald, endangered species program director at the center. "Instead of creating an entirely new path of destruction, an existing pipeline route should have been utilized."

Specifically, the lawsuit challenges the Bureau of Land Management's decision to issue rights of way on federal lands and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's review of the project's impacts on endangered species.

The pipeline, which would be built by El Paso Corp., would cross 209 streams that serve as habitat for sensitive or endangered fish. The work also could include blasting through 143 streams to lay the pipeline and depleting flows with its substantial use of water, the lawsuit said.

El Paso Corp. has worked out an agreement with a number of conservation organizations that establishes a fund to protect sage grouse habitat and purchase grazing leases.

A spokesman for El Paso Corp. declined to comment on the lawsuit Friday to The Associated Press.

"Although the El Paso Corporation has taken steps to reduce some of the tremendous impacts of the Ruby Pipeline on the environment, serious concerns remain," Greenwald said. "More needs to be done to ensure the pipeline doesn't drive endangered fish to extinction."

The center also is seeking a rehearing before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission raising the stream and fish habitat issues, as well as asserting failure to protect cultural resources and historic sites that are covered under the National Historic Preservation Act.

The commission issued a notice to proceed for the project Friday.

BLM project manager Mark Mackiewicz said initial work probably will begin Monday. He said the BLM and Ruby Pipeline worked hard to address environmental concerns.

Contributing: Associated Press

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