Uinta Basin Railway (UBR) opponents have reason to celebrate. On Aug. 18, a D.C. Circuit Court judge overruled the Federal Surface Transportation Board’s (STB) December 2021 decision to approve the UBR.
Ted Zukoski, attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the plaintiffs in the case, told The Sopris Sun that the STB and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), whose biological opinion informed the STB’s decision, must go back to the drawing board.
“The existing approvals from the STB and FWS are null and void,” he said.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit included Eagle County and several other Colorado communities, including Glenwood Springs. But, the transport of large amounts of waxy crude by rail through Colorado is still on the table.
The Bureau of Land Management is considering an expansion of the Wildcat Loadout facility (WLF) near Price, Utah to store and transport up to 100,000 barrels/day (bpd) of Uinta Basin oil. The WLF currently transports 30,000 bpd by rail. The environmental review for that project has not been completed. Another lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service is pending.