A controversial plan to haul waxy crude oil on train cars through Colorado including Gilpin County’s Moffat Tunnel is awaiting a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court. The highest court in the land is expected to give its ruling sometime during spring 2025.
Many local leaders thought the oil-by-rail plan was derailed after a federal district court in Washington D.C. ruled against the project several months ago, following a lawsuit brought against the project by Eagle County and five environmental groups.
The Gilpin Board of County Commissioners, in July 2022 and March 2023, issued position letters against the proposed hauling of the waxy crude oil in train cars on Colorado’s main east-west railroad. Among the chief arguments of the opponents is that the oil-by-rail cars could lead to potential hazmat and environmental situations for local lands and waterways.
Several state leaders, including Gov. Jared Polis and U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennett, opposed the oil-hauling proposal.
In 2021, federal regulars approved the initial plan allowing the oil to be transported along the 88 mile Uinta Basin Railway before connecting to the national rail network. After passing through parts of Colorado, including Gilpin, the train cars would complete their route to Texas oil refineries.
However, Eagle County and the environmental groups argue that the approval violated several provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, which President Richard Nixon signed into law in 1970. The act requires federal agencies to scrutinize the environmental risks of major regulatory decisions. While a trio of federal appellate judges agreed with Eagle County earlier this year, the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition, a group of Utah county governments that backed the hauling plan proposal, filed an appeal. The U.S. Supreme Court held oral arguments earlier this month.
Before the arguments, U.S. Justice Neil Gorsuch announced he wouldn’t participate in the case due to his ties to Philip Anschutz, who owns oil wells in the Uinta Basin.
Gorsuch also represented Anschutz before being named to the bench. The company Anschutz owns, Anschutz Exploration Corporation, filed a legal brief supporting the side of the Utah groups.
While the nation’s highest court isn’t expected to give its decision until spring, it isn’t unknown if the decision would affect related lower court rulings in the Court of Appeals or the D.C. Circuit.
That federal court ordered regulators to correct plans related to the Endangered Species Act and federal interstate commerce law.
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