Environmental groups have sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a bid to block construction of a 162-mile-long crude oil pipeline across south Louisiana, including the environmentally fragile Atchafalaya Basin river swamp.
The federal lawsuit filed Thursday claims the Corps violated the Clean Water Act and other laws when it approved a permit for the Bayou Bridge Pipeline project in December.
Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners plans to build the pipeline from Lake Charles to St. James Parish. The same company built the controversial Dakota Access pipeline.
A spokesman for the Corps' New Orleans district says he can't comment on pending litigation. Col. Michael Clancy, the district's commander, said in a statement last month that the Corps neither supports nor opposes the project.