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Keystone XL Opponent Plans Appeal to South Dakota High Court

Project would move crude oil from Canada across Montana and South Dakota to Nebraska

By Dillon Tabish

PIERRE, S.D. — An attorney for a group fighting the Keystone XL pipeline says the organization plans to appeal a South Dakota judge’s decision upholding state regulators’ approval for the pipeline to cross the state.

Dakota Rural Action attorney Robin Martinez said Wednesday that the conservation and family agriculture group plans to raise the issue to the South Dakota Supreme Court. Others could also appeal.

Judge John Brown last month affirmed a Public Utilities Commission decision that was challenged by Native American tribes, landowners and others. Martinez says the high court will have an opportunity to look at issues that affect the pipeline and how the commission operates.

The project would move crude oil from Canada across Montana and South Dakota to Nebraska, where it would connect with existing pipelines feeding refineries along the Gulf Coast.