Court Blocks Oil Export Project in the Gulf of Mexico

Court Blocks Oil Export Project in the Gulf of Mexico

Victory

A federal appeals court rejected federal approval for the Texas GulfLink project; the same project secured $2 billion in funding through Trump's trade deal with Japan

Contacts

Dustin Renaud, [email protected]

On Wednesday, the 5^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Better Brazoria (Citizens for Clean Air & Clean Water in Brazoria County) when it vacated and remanded the Maritime Administration (MARAD) decision to issue a deepwater port license to Texas GulfLink, LLC.

The court upheld provisions in the Deepwater Port Act that require only one deepwater port within a specific application area that encircles both projects, including the immediately adjacent and recently approved SPOT oil export project.

GulfLink had secured $2 billion in funding from the Trump administration's trade deal with Japan before the court vacated its license.

"This decision is an important victory for Brazoria County communities and for lawful, transparent decision-making," said Melanie Oldham, Executive Director, Better Brazoria. "Federal agencies must follow the safeguards Congress established before approving major industrial projects off our coast. Better Brazoria will continue working to ensure that community voices are heard and that any further agency proceedings comply fully with the law."

Better Brazoria (formerly Citizens for Clean Air & Clean Water in Brazoria County) was represented by attorneys at Texas Community Law Partners and Earthjustice.

"This court was right to uphold the law, and putting two of these massive export terminals so close to each other would have devastating impacts for Brazoria County communities, wildlife, and the Gulf of Mexico," said Michael Brown, senior attorney at Earthjustice. "As the Administration and oil-and-gas corporations fast-track fossil fuel export projects, often acting as if the environmental or public health laws don't exist, this decision is an important reminder that communities can still stand up and force major, polluting projects to follow the law."

Texas GulfLink export terminal was projected to export up to 2 million barrels of crude oil per day (84,000,000 gallons/day). For comparison, the entire Gulf of Mexico produces 1.8 million barrels of crude oil per day on average. Offshore oil fields account for around 15% of total U.S. crude oil production, mostly in the Gulf of Mexico.

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