CANADIAN OILPATCH / PIPELINES
Express Pipeline files motion to dismiss U.S. lawsuit
October 16, 1996
Officials at Express Pipeline Ltd. said yesterday they have filed a motion to dismiss a U.S. lawsuit that seeks to halt the construction.
Bob Towler, senior vice-president at Express Pipeline, said the company believes that a recent ruling by the U.S. Department of the Interior's board of land appeals has undercut the lawsuit, was brought against the pipeline by the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States.
The land appeals board recently dismissed IPAMS's petition to overturn a decision allowing Express to cross federal land. Towler said that decision has made the lawsuit a moot point as it deals with the same issues.
"The suit has been overtaken by events," he said. "We believe the suit is no longer relevant and we think we are on good ground here." The IPAMS suit against Express, the Department of the Interior and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management asks the U.S. District Court in Cheyenne, Wyo., to stop construction of the $530-million pipeline.
"We will certainly fight any motion to dismiss, no question about it," said George Fancher, head of Denver's Fancher Oil Co. and an IPAMS official.
The Express pipeline, currently under construction, will be the first significant Canadian oil export line to be built in more than two decades. The 1,200-kilometre line will run from Hardisty, Alta., and join the Platte Pipeline, which runs to the U.S. Midwest, at Casper, Wyo.
IPAMS claims that the 172,000 barrels of Alberta crude oil that Express will bring into the U.S. will saturate local markets and drive down oil prices. It also claims its members won't get a chance to get space on Express pipeline or on the Express-owned Platte line.
Towler said construction of the line, a joint-venture of Alberta Energy Co. and TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., should be completed by the end of December and be in service in the first quarter next year.
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