Texas judge lifts order on TransCanada pipeline

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HOUSTON (AP) — TransCanada can resume oil pipeline work on a private Texas property for now, a judge said Thursday, at least until a hearing next week meant to determine whether the product the company wants to transport is in fact crude oil.

Judge Jack Sinz initially issued an order Dec. 7 in Nacogdoches County Court halting work through next week on the Keystone XL pipeline on property owned by Michael Bishop in Douglass, Texas. But TransCanada requested a separate court date to lift the temporary restraining order, and Sinz scheduled a hearing for Thursday, where he lifted the restrictions.

TransCanada had been clearing areas of Bishop’s land to begin construction. Spokesman Shawn Howard said work is unlikely to begin before Wednesday’s hearing, which will also address TransCanada’s counterclaim that Bishop has breached his contract to build its pipeline on his property.

Bishop, meanwhile, vowed to fight on, one of many Texas landowners battling TransCanada’s plan to build a pipeline to transport Canadian tar sands oil to Gulf Coast refineries.

Tags: oil, news, trandscanada, energy, pipe, pipeline