ROCHESTER, Minn. — Environmental opponents to the expansion of the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad want a federal court to order a review of the air-pollution impacts of the $2 billion project, the Associated Press reported.
The Sierra Club and Minnesotans for an Energy- Efficient Economy filed the request late Monday in the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.
In January, the federal Surface Transportation Board approved the expansion proposed by the Brookings, S.D.-based Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad.
The company wants to haul coal from Wyoming’s Powder River Basin through rail lines in South Dakota to markets farther east.
Opponents from environmental groups, Rochester, Olmsted County, the Mayo Foundation, western landowners and others are trying to overturn the approval and force the board to take another look at the project and its impact.
According to the brief by the Sierra Club and ME3, the board did not evaluate the potential air-pollution effects of coal burning resulting from coal shipments on the railroad.
The environmental groups say the board is obligated legally to evaluate that impact.
“Constructing a rail line to transport up to 100 million tons of coal per year means that the coal will have to be burned after it is delivered,” lawyers Jim Dougherty and Noah Hall wrote. “Burning coal inevitably leads to power-plant emissions and air pollution.”
In a court brief filed last month, the board’s attorney wrote that evaluating power- plant emissions resulting from coal shipped by the DM&E is too speculative.
The Sierra Club and ME3’s brief was one of several filed Monday. The next step in the case is expected to be oral arguments before the court, for which a date has not been set.