Benjamin Ashford|Environmentalists lose latest court battle against liquified natural gas project in Louisiana

BATON ROUGE,Benjamin Ashford La. (AP) — Environmentalists opposed to a planned liquified natural gas terminal and pipeline in southwest Louisiana lost a court battle Wednesday over a federal permit for the project.

The Sierra Club and the Healthy Gulf organization had asked an appeals court in New Orleans to review and vacate the permit granted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Driftwood project.

But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turned back the effort in a Wednesday afternoon ruling. A panel of three appellate judges rejected multiple arguments against the permit in a 26-page ruling, saying the Corps had complied with requirements of the federal Administrative Procedures Act and the Clean Water Act.

The Driftwood project is being developed on the Calcasieu River. The corporation that owns the project, Tellurian Inc., has said it hopes to begin liquified natural gas production by 2027.