Environmental groups have sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a bid to block construction of a 162-mile-long (261-kilometer) crude oil pipeline across south Louisiana, including through the environmentally fragile Atchafalaya (uh-CHAF-uh-LIE-uh) Basin river swamp. The federal lawsuit filed Thursday claims the Corps violated the Clean Water Act and other environmental laws when it approved a permit for the Bayou Bridge Pipeline project in December. The suit says it would, "in essence," be the final segment of a pipeline network connecting the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota with Louisiana refineries and export terminals. Building the pipeline "will have significant environmental impacts on the human and natural environment of Louisiana." "It will cross hundreds of streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and bayous, where both construction and operation of the project presents significant environmental threats," the suit says.

Source: ABC News January 12, 2018 18:56 UTC