Not only is the Sierra Club fighting the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota as well as Donald Trump’s nomination of Attorney General Scott Pruitt to head the EPA, it’s now taken legal action to oppose a south Texas pipeline meant to carry natural gas to customers in Mexico.
The Club filed a motion against the $1.5 billion pipeline that will originate in the Eagle Ford Shale. The legal action was an intervention with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission against what’s called the Valley Crossing Pipeline.
Houston-based Spectra Energy Corp. is building the pipeline after winning the contract from Mexico’s Federal Electricity commission. The 165-mile pipeline begins at the Agua Dulce hub west of Corpus Christi and continues to the Port of Brownsville. It then heads into the Gulf of Mexico and crosses the international boundary line.
“Valley Crossing is wrong,” said Nathan Matthews, an attorney for the Sierra Club. “Valley Crossing argues that FERC does not have jurisdiction over any aspect of the proposed pipeline other than the 1,000-foot border crossing segment.”
He said the club is concerned about pollution, public safety, endangered species and the impact on marine traffic.