(Reuters) - An Illinois appellate court vacated approval given by the Illinois Commerce Commission to allow the expansion of the Dakota Access oil pipeline capacity to 1.1 million barrels per day.
Energy Transfer and Dakota Access LLC had petitioned the commission for permission to add more pumping stations to the 570,000 barrel per day Illinois pipeline. The commission previously approved the addition of pumping stations on the line that would increase the pipeline's capacity over the objections of environmental groups such as the Sierra Club and the National Resources Defense Council.
The groups appealed to the appellate court, which returned the case to the commission for further consideration on Wednesday.
The commission needed to consider the public need for the proposed improvement, but the court said the commission erroneously interpreted the public to mean the world, and not the United States.
The court also found that the commission abused its discretion in finding irrelevant the objectors' evidence that the pipeline's operator, Sunoco, had been fined for safety and environmental violations.
For more Top News click here.
