Supreme Court deals blow to Keystone oil pipeline

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has handed another blow to the disputed Keystone XL pipeline from Canada by keeping in place a lower court ruling that blocked a key permit for the project.

But Monday's order also puts on hold the lower court ruling out of Montana as it pertains to other oil and gas pipelines across the nation.

The Trump administration had argued a U.S. Army Corps of Engineer permit program that has been in the place since the 1970s was functioning properly when it was cancelled by a Montana judge in April.

But environmentalists had argued the program allowed companies to skirt responsibility for damage done to water bodies.

Canadian company TC Energy needs the permit to build the long-disputed pipeline from Canada across U.S. rivers and streams.

Industry representatives had warned that the April ruling from U.S. District Judge Brian Morris blocking the program would delay more than 70 pipeline projects across the U.S. and add as much as $2 billion in costs.