GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A federal judge in Montana has blocked construction of the $8 billion Keystone XL Pipeline to allow more time to study the project's potential environmental impact.

The Great Falls Tribune reports U.S. District Judge Brian Morris' order on Thursday came as Calgary-based TransCanada was preparing to build the first stages of the oil pipeline in northern Montana. Environmental groups had sued TransCanada and the U.S. Department of State in federal court in Great Falls.

Morris says the government's analysis didn't fully study the cumulative effects of greenhouse gas emissions, the effects of current oil prices on the pipeline's viability or include updated modeling of potential oil spills.

The 1,184-mile pipeline would transport up to 830,000 barrels of crude a day from the Canadian province of Alberta and Montana to facilities in Nebraska. </s> A federal judge in Montana on Thursday blocked construction of the Keystone XL pipeline to allow the State Department to provide a fuller explanation of how the 1,184-mile project would affect the environment.

The judge, Brian M. Morris of the District of Montana, criticized the Trump administration for its failure to provide a “reasoned explanation” for its position about the pipeline’s impact on the climate. Construction could have begun as early as next year.

“The Department instead simply discarded prior factual findings related to climate change to support its course reversal,” Judge Morris wrote in his decision.

Environmental and Native American groups that have fought the pipeline called Judge Morris’s ruling a major victory and a setback for the Trump administration’s environmental and energy policies. </s> GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A federal judge in Montana has blocked construction of the $8-billion Keystone XL pipeline to allow more time to study the project’s potential environmental impact. The Great Falls Tribune reports U.S. District Judge Brian Morris’ order on Thursday came as Calgary-based TransCanada was preparing to build the first stages of the oil pipeline in northern Montana. Environmental groups had sued TransCanada and the U.S. Department of State in federal court in Great Falls. The 1,897-kilometre pipeline would transport up to 830,000 barrels of crude a day from Alberta and Montana to facilities in Nebraska. More to come. </s> A federal appeals court has upheld a Montana judge’s ruling barring construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada.

TransCanada had asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to put the ruling from U.S. District Judge Brian Morris on hold while its appeal is pending, and allow the Calgary-based company to begin building the pipeline.

In a Friday ruling, a two-judge panel said Morris carefully considered all factors in his decision to prevent the company from working on the proposed 1,184-mile pipeline from Alberta to Nebraska.

 TransCanada attorneys had said an injunction issued by Morris in November could cause it to miss the 2019 construction season.

Morris allowed TransCanada to perform some activities outside the pipeline’s right-of-way, including the construction of pipe storage yards. </s> LINCOLN, Neb. - The developer of the Keystone XL oil pipeline plans to start construction next year, after a U.S. State Department review ordered by a federal judge concluded that major environmental damage from a leak is unlikely and could quickly be mitigated, a company spokesman said Monday.

TransCanada spokesman Matthew John said the company remains committed to moving ahead with the project following years of reviews from federal and state regulators. The company has already started preparing pipe yards, transporting pipe and mowing parts of the project's right-of-way in Montana and South Dakota.

The report issued Friday from the Trump administration's State Department drew criticism from environmental groups, which say they'll continue to fight the project they view as an environmental threat.

"The Trump administration sees no problem with building the Keystone XL -- in other news, the grass is still green and the sky is still blue," said Kelly Martin, a campaign director for the Sierra Club.

The updated, 338-page report was released a little more than a month after a federal judge in Montana ordered the U.S. State Department to conduct a more thorough review of the pipeline's proposed pathway after Nebraska state regulators changed the route.

Nebraska commission approves alternative route for oil pipeline

The original environmental impact study was issued in 2014, before Nebraska regulators approved a longer "mainline alternative" route that veered away from the company's preferred pathway. President Donald Trump approved a federal permit for the project in March 2017, reversing former President Barack Obama's decision to reject it amid concerns over greenhouse admissions.

The report said the $8 billion, 1,184-mile pipeline would have a "negligible to moderate" environmental impact under its normal operations, and continuous monitoring and automatic shut-off valves would help company officials quickly identify a leak or rupture. Additionally, the report said TransCanada has a response plan in place that should mitigate the effects if it's implemented quickly.

"Prompt cleanup response would likely be capable of remediating the contaminated soil before the hazardous release reaches groundwater depth," the report said.

Environmentalists, Native American tribes and a coalition of landowners have prevented the company from moving ahead with construction. In addition to the federal lawsuit in Montana that seeks to halt the project, opponents have a pending lawsuit before the Nebraska Supreme Court. Oral arguments in the Nebraska case aren't expected until next month.

Critics of the project have raised concerns about spills that could contaminate groundwater and the property rights of affected landowners. In Nebraska, a major battleground for the project, opponents are trying to change the makeup of the Nebraska Public Service Commission in hopes of overturning its previous decision to approve an in-state route for the pipeline.

The latest State Department report is a draft that must still face public review and comments, but federal officials say they expect to have the final draft ready by December. In court documents from the Montana lawsuit, TransCanada's attorneys said they believe all the pending lawsuits will be resolved before construction begins.

The pipeline would carry up to 830,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Canada through Montana and South Dakota to Steele City, Nebraska, where it would connect with the original Keystone pipeline that runs down to Texas Gulf Coast refineries. The State Department has noted that TransCanada has a lower overall spill rate than average in the pipeline industry. </s> TransCanada Corp., the developer of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline, lost a bid to circumvent a federal judge’s ruling that has further delayed the project.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit denied TransCanada’s request for a stay on a Montana federal judge’s ruling that halted work on Keystone XL while it appeals that decision. The court said Friday that the company hadn’t made a strong enough showing that it was likely to prevail on the merits of its case. </s> In A Setback For Trump, Judge Blocks Keystone XL Pipeline Construction

Enlarge this image toggle caption Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images

A U.S. district judge has issued an order blocking construction of the controversial transnational Keystone XL Pipeline until the State Department conducts further study of its impact on the environment.

Judge Brian Morris' 54-page order, issued late Thursday, overturns the Trump administrations's approval last year of the proposed 1,179-mile pipeline and at least temporarily prevents it from being built.

Although the decision does not permanently halt the pipeline's construction, it nevertheless comes as TransCanada, the Canadian company that owns Keystone, is preparing to start construction in Montana, shipping pipe to various locations throughout the state, the Great Falls Tribune reports.

The order stems from a lawsuit filed by the Indigenous Environmental Network and North Coast Rivers Alliance, which alleges that the State Department and TransCanada violated National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, the environmental law described in the order as "the basic national charter for protection of the environment."

Since its conception, the pipeline has sparked a backlash from environmentalists and indigenous peoples who say it violates historical treaty boundaries and would bring environmental problems.

In August, Judge Morris ruled that the State Department must supplement a more thorough study of potential environmental effects of the pipeline. He had yet to rule on vacating the permit itself.

In Thursday's ruling, Morris wrote that the State Department's analysis of potential environmental effects fell short of a "hard look" on the effects of current oil prices on the viability of Keystone, cumulative effects of greenhouse gas emissions, cultural resources and potential oil spills.

"These omissions require a remand with instructions to the Department to satisfy its obligations under NEPA," he wrote.

Morris also noted that in 2015, during the Obama administration, the State Department denied a permit to build the pipeline, citing environmental effects. At that time, the Department "relied heavily on the United States's role in climate leadership."

Then came policy shifts in the Trump administration.

Under President Trump, the State Department wrote "there have been numerous developments related to global action to address climate change, including announcements by many countries of their plans to do so" since the Obama administration's decision two years earlier.

That statement falls short of a "factually based determination, let alone a reasoned explanation, for the course reversal," Morris wrote.

"An agency cannot simply disregard contrary or inconvenient factual determinations that it made in the past, any more than it can ignore inconvenient facts when it writes on a blank slate," he continued.

The pipeline was first proposed in 2o08. If built, it would transport around 830,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Alberta, Canada, and the Bakken Shale Formation in Montana to facilities near Steele City, Neb.

The proposed U.S. portion of the pipeline would run about 875 miles through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Another 1,200 miles would run through Canada.

Four days after Trump was sworn into office, he invited TransCanada to resubmit its permit application. He signed an executive order supporting its construction in March of last year.

NPR reached out to TransCanada early Friday for comment on the ruling but did not hear back by the time of publishing.

"Today's ruling is a decisive moment in our fight against the corporate polluters who have rushed to destroy our planet," said Marcie Keever, legal director at Friends of the Earth in a news statement. "Today, the courts showed the Trump administration and their corporate polluter friends that they cannot bully rural landowners, farmers, environmentalists and Native communities."

As NPR's Jeff Brady and Jason Slotkin have reported, "The oil industry and some labor unions have supported the pipeline, largely for the thousands of construction jobs it would provide. But those jobs are temporary. The State Department has estimated that once built, the pipeline will employ about 35 people." </s> U.S. District Judge Brian Morris issued an order Thursday blocking construction of the $8 billion Keystone XL Pipeline until further environmental analysis is conducted.

The decision comes as TransCanada is preparing to build the oil pipeline beginning in northern Montana, with pipe being shipped to the state by train and trucked to locations along the line.

Environmental groups that sued TransCanada and the U.S. Department of State in federal court in Great Falls called the decision to overturn the Trump administration-issued permit a landmark ruling.

More: Army of attorneys spar over Keystone pipeline in Great Falls court

In his decision, Morris said the government's analysis fell short on:

» The effects of the current oil prices on the viability of the pipeline.

» And updated modeling of potential oil spills and recommended mitigation measures.

"The Department must supplement new and relevant information regarding the risk of spills," Morris wrote.

As for climate change, Morris noted that the department denied the permit in 2015 and relied heavily on the United State's role in climate leadership. That was under the Obama Administration.

Then, under the Trump administration, the department approved the permit, dismissing concerns about climate change.

The Trump Administration decision approving the project noted that “there have been numerous developments related to global action to address climate change, including announcements by many countries of their plans to do so” since the 2015 decision.

Morris said that statement fell short of a factually based determination, let alone a reasoned explanation, for the course reversal.

“An agency cannot simply disregard contrary or inconvenient factual determinations that it made in the past, any more than it can ignore inconvenient facts when it writes on a blank slate," Morris wrote.

The reversal required a "reasoned explanation" but instead the State Department discarded prior factual findings related to climate change, the judge said.

Keystone XL Pipeline would transport up to 830,000 barrels per day of crude oil from Alberta, Canada and the Bakken Shale Formation in Montana to existing pipeline facilities near Steele City, Neb., from which the oil would be delivered to Cushing, Okla., and the Gulf Coast.

The U.S. portion of the line would run 875 miles through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. The rest of the 1,200-mile line is in Canada.

About 250 miles of the pipeline would be buried across six counties in Montana beginning on the border with Canada in Phillips County. TransCanada already as begun delivering pipe to Montana in expectation of construction beginning in 2019.

The Indigenous Environmental Network, North Coast Rivers Alliance, Northern Plains Resource Council and other groups sued TransCanada and the U.S. State Department in March to block the decision to issue a presidential permit allowing construction.

"I would call it a landmark ruling because it overturns a presidential decision purporting to find that a transboundary project is in the public interest," Stephan Volker, a Berkeley-based attorney for the plaintiffs, told the Tribune. "And Judge Morris correctly ruled it was not in the public interest because Secretary Kerry had found in a detailed ruling several years ago it was not in the public interest."

John Kerry was secretary of state when the Obama administration denied the presidential permit for the pipeline.

A presidential permit is required when a project crosses an international boundary. The secretary of state makes a recommendation, then the president decides.

"We have never had a ruling against a president overturning a substantive finding a project is in the public interest," Volker said. "That finding is required for transboundary projects. So it's unique to this kind of national project that affects multiple countries."

Dena Hoff, a Glendive farmer and member-leader of the Northern Plains Resource Council, called the ruling a victory for rule of law and common sense stewardship of land and water.

"All Americans should be proud that our system of checks and balances can still function even in the face of enormous strains," Hoff said.

The Fort Peck tribes of Montana have opposed the current location of the pipeline crossing on the Missouri River in Valley County, Montana because they say if there was an oil spill it could taint their downstream water system.

The pipeline would cross the Milk River 1.6 miles west of Nashua, and the Missouri River just west of the mouth of the Milk. That location is 57 miles upstream from the intake of the Assiniboine and Sioux Rural Water Supply System.

TransCanada says the pipeline will be safe. At the Missouri River, the pipeline depth would be 54 feet below the lowest surveyed river elevation, and heavier-walled pipe with anti-corrosion coating would be used.

"Pipelines are the safest and most cost-effective form of overland crude oil transportation," according the environmental impact statement that was completed on the project.

The Obama Administration, citing climate change, had denied the permit, saying it wasn't in the national interest.

In approving the pipeline, the Trump Administration said the project would support U.S. priorities relating to energy security, economic development and infrastructure.

The environmental groups argued it would push the earth beyond its carrying capacity for carbon dioxide, and asked how that could be in the public's interest.

In the same case, Morris directed the government in August to supplement the 2014 final supplemental environmental impact statement to consider another alternative route through Nebraska.

More: Great Falls judge orders new federal review of Keystone XL pipeline

But the court had yet to decide on vacating the presidential permit granting permission to cross the international border between Canada and the United States at Montana.

Morris’s 54-page order overturns the Trump Administration’s approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline and issues an injunction preventing construction of the project until additional analysis occurs. </s> CLOSE

Buy Photo Pipe for the Keystone XL Pipeline is being stored at a pipe yard in Northern Phillips County in anticipation of the beginning of construction in 2019. (Photo: TRIBUNE PHOTO/RION SANDERS)Buy Photo

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris issued an order Thursday blocking construction of the $8 billion Keystone XL Pipeline until further environmental analysis is conducted.

The decision comes as TransCanada is preparing to build the oil pipeline beginning in northern Montana, with pipe being shipped to the state by train and trucked to locations along the line.

TransCanada released a statement Friday saying it is reviewing the judge's decision.

"We remain committed to building this important energy infrastructure project," said Terry Cunha, communications manager for TransCanada.

More: Keystone order: Blow to Trump or overreach by judge?

President Donald J. Trump criticized the order.

President Donald Trump talks with reporters Friday before departing for France. He called a Montana's judge's decision blocking a permit for Keystone XL "a disgrace." (Photo: Evan Vucci, AP)

"Well, it was a political decision made by a judge," he said Friday as he headed to Europe to observe the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I. "I think it’s a disgrace. It’s 48,000 jobs. I approved it; it’s ready to start."

Environmental groups that sued TransCanada and the U.S. Department of State in federal court in Great Falls called the decision to overturn the Trump administration-issued permit a landmark ruling.

More: Army of attorneys spar over Keystone pipeline in Great Falls court

In his decision, Morris said the government's analysis fell short on:

» The effects of the current oil prices on the viability of the pipeline.

» The cumulative effects of greenhouse gas emissions.

» A survey of potential Native American resources.

» And updated modeling of potential oil spills and recommended mitigation measures.

"The Department must supplement new and relevant information regarding the risk of spills," Morris wrote.

As for climate change, Morris noted that the department denied the permit in 2015 and relied heavily on the United State's role in climate leadership. That was under the Obama Administration.

Then, under the Trump administration, the department approved the permit, dismissing concerns about climate change.

The Trump Administration decision approving the project noted that “there have been numerous developments related to global action to address climate change, including announcements by many countries of their plans to do so” since the 2015 decision.

Morris said that statement fell short of a factually based determination, let alone a reasoned explanation, for the course reversal.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris (Photo: File image)

“An agency cannot simply disregard contrary or inconvenient factual determinations that it made in the past, any more than it can ignore inconvenient facts when it writes on a blank slate," Morris wrote.

The reversal required a "reasoned explanation" but instead the State Department discarded prior factual findings related to climate change, the judge said.

Keystone XL Pipeline would transport up to 830,000 barrels per day of crude oil from Alberta, Canada and the Bakken Shale Formation in Montana to existing pipeline facilities near Steele City, Neb., from which the oil would be delivered to Cushing, Okla., and the Gulf Coast.

The U.S. portion of the line would run 875 miles through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. The rest of the 1,200-mile line is in Canada.

About 250 miles of the pipeline would be buried across six counties in Montana beginning on the border with Canada in Phillips County. TransCanada already as begun delivering pipe to Montana in expectation of construction beginning in 2019.

The Indigenous Environmental Network, North Coast Rivers Alliance, Northern Plains Resource Council and other groups sued TransCanada and the U.S. State Department in March to block the decision to issue a presidential permit allowing construction.

"I would call it a landmark ruling because it overturns a presidential decision purporting to find that a transboundary project is in the public interest," Stephan Volker, a Berkeley-based attorney for the plaintiffs, told the Tribune. "And Judge Morris correctly ruled it was not in the public interest because Secretary Kerry had found in a detailed ruling several years ago it was not in the public interest."

John Kerry was secretary of state when the Obama administration denied the presidential permit for the pipeline.

A presidential permit is required when a project crosses an international boundary. The secretary of state makes a recommendation, then the president decides.

"We have never had a ruling against a president overturning a substantive finding a project is in the public interest," Volker said. "That finding is required for transboundary projects. So it's unique to this kind of national project that affects multiple countries."

Dena Hoff, a Glendive farmer and member-leader of the Northern Plains Resource Council, called the ruling a victory for rule of law and common sense stewardship of land and water.

"All Americans should be proud that our system of checks and balances can still function even in the face of enormous strains," Hoff said.

The Fort Peck tribes of Montana have opposed the current location of the pipeline crossing on the Missouri River in Valley County, Montana because they say if there was an oil spill it could taint their downstream water system.

More: Montana tribes seek Keystone route change

The pipeline would cross the Milk River 1.6 miles west of Nashua, and the Missouri River just west of the mouth of the Milk. That location is 57 miles upstream from the intake of the Assiniboine and Sioux Rural Water Supply System.

Buy Photo The intake of the Assiniboine and Sioux Rural Water Supply System which serves the Fort Peck Indian Reservation and Dry Prairie Rural Water System in Valley, Roosevelt, Sheridan, and Daniels counties is located off Highway 13 in Roosevelt County 57 miles downstream from where the Keystone XL Pipeline will cross the Missouri River at its confluence with the Milk River. (Photo: TRIBUNE PHOTO/RION SANDERS)

TransCanada says the pipeline will be safe. At the Missouri River, the pipeline depth would be 54 feet below the lowest surveyed river elevation, and heavier-walled pipe with anti-corrosion coating would be used.

"Pipelines are the safest and most cost-effective form of overland crude oil transportation," according the environmental impact statement that was completed on the project.

The Obama Administration, citing climate change, had denied the permit, saying it wasn't in the national interest.

In approving the pipeline, the Trump Administration said the project would support U.S. priorities relating to energy security, economic development and infrastructure.

The environmental groups argued it would push the earth beyond its carrying capacity for carbon dioxide, and asked how that could be in the public's interest.

In the same case, Morris directed the government in August to supplement the 2014 final supplemental environmental impact statement to consider another alternative route through Nebraska.

More: Great Falls judge orders new federal review of Keystone XL pipeline

But the court had yet to decide on vacating the presidential permit granting permission to cross the international border between Canada and the United States at Montana.

Morris’s 54-page order overturns the Trump Administration’s approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline and issues an injunction preventing construction of the project until additional analysis occurs.

Staff Writer Phil Drake contributed to this story.

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A federal judge in Montana orders a suspension of construction on the Keystone XL pipeline, citing an inadequate review of the potential environmental impact of the pipeline.