So, Now, The Keystone XL 2.0 South Is Temporarily Halted By A Judge

Updates

December 14, 2012: well, that didn't last long. The judge issuing the injunction (see original post below) lifted his own injunction after listening to the two sides. 

Later, 7:31 pm: a spokesman says it is "months away" before there is a decision on Keystone XL 2.0. Faux environmentalists and economic suicide groups want additional studies of the Keystone XL before pressing on. 

It is clear that the Keystone XL 2.0 pipeline is literally and figuratively the "line in the sand hills" for the FAs and ESGs. "Months away" suggests, to me, that the decision will not be made until after the mid-term elections, in 2016.

Original Post

It never quits. Now a section of the Keystone XL 2.0 South is halted temporarily over a lawsuit arguing over the definition of "crude oil" vs "heavy sands oil."

TransCanada Corp. must temporarily stop work on part of its Keystone XL pipeline while a Texas judge evaluates a landowner’s challenge that the line was permitted to carry only crude oil, not bitumen obtained from Canadian tar sands.

Michael Bishop, who granted TransCanada an easement across his property in Nacogdoches County, obtained a temporary restraining order from Texas County Court at Law Judge Jack Sinz on Dec. 7. The order blocks the company from working on Bishop’s property for two weeks while allowing work on other sections of the pipeline to proceed.

“He’s saying we can’t transport anything but crude oil, which is what we’re primarily going to carry,” Tom Zabel, TransCanada’s lawyer, said in a telephone interview today. “We’re trying to get a hearing on Thursday to dissolve the order.”

The definition of is, is...

By the way, this is relevant to the issue of fracking and the EPA: in this case, the definition of "diesel."

Not surprisingly, EPA’s SDWA guidance development process has involved plenty of lobbying from industry and environmental interest groups. Probably the most contentious issue is how EPA would define “diesel.”

Why is EPA’s definition of “diesel” so critical? In the fracking process, fluids are injected at high pressure to fracture underground rock and shale formations and help extract gas or oil that would otherwise be unobtainable. In 2005, Congress amended the SWDA to provide that EPA could not regulate fracking under the SDWA UIC program except for projects where “diesel” is the fluid used in the injection process. Thus fracking with “diesel” can be regulated under the SDWA; fracking without “diesel” cannot.

It is my understanding that the new definition of "diesel," as a hydrocarbon would include Newman's Own Salad Dressing, another hydrocarbon.