Supreme Court To Hear Argument on New US Rail Line

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday on a proposed Utah railroad that could significantly increase crude oil transport along the Colorado River.

The 88-mile Uinta Basin Railway would connect Utah oil fields to the national rail network, enabling up to 350,000 barrels of crude oil per day to travel on trains as long as two miles.

Opponents of the railroad, led by Colorado’s Eagle County, argue the U.S. Surface Transportation Board violated federal law by failing to adequately assess risks to the Colorado River and wildfire dangers from increased rail traffic.

The proponents are a coalition of seven Utah counties and private companies backing the railway.

The case, Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, hinges on whether the National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies to consider environmental impacts beyond the immediate area of the project.

Newsweek has contacted the lawyers for Eagle County Council and the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition via email for comment.

In 2023, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the opponents, halting the project, but proponents petitioned the Supreme Court to review that decision. Their petition was accepted.

In their brief to the Supreme Court, they contended that the Surface Transportation Board was not obligated to analyze “imponderables” such as downstream accidents or impacts on Gulf Coast communities.

“If a new rail line in Utah will displace habitat for bighorn sheep or alter the topography in ways that threaten a pristine mountain stream, the Surface Transportation Board must consider those issues,” they wrote.

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, representing the opposition, warned of significant environmental risks from the project. “The project raises the risk of leaks, spills, or rail car accidents immediately adjacent to the headwaters of the Colorado River,” Weiser wrote in a responding court brief.

A dozen Colorado communities, including Glenwood Springs and Grand Junction, joined the opposition, citing concerns about potential disasters affecting water supplies and economies dependent on the river.

“Our entire recreation economy is built around the river,” Glenwood Springs city councilman Jonathan Godes told the Denver Post. “It would destroy our economy and our drinking water.”

Conservationist law groups Earthjustice and the Center for Biological Diversity filed their own joint brief against the railroad, arguing that the Supreme Court could weaken the National Environmental Policy Act if it sided with the proponents.

Justice Neil Gorsuch recused himself due to ties to Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz, whose companies could benefit from the railway.

The justices’ decision is not expected for weeks or months, and construction would remain on hold regardless of the ruling.