Three Canadian environmental groups have filed a motion with the federal appeals court in hopes of quashing the Trans Mountain pipeline.
On Monday, Ecojustice announced it had filed a motion on behalf of itself, the Living Oceans Society and the Raincoast Conservation Foundation.
The groups claim the Trudeau government’s June 18 approval of the pipeline expansion project did not take into account its duty to protect endangered southern resident killer whales.
In an application of more than 1,000 pages, Ecojustice said the data cabinet used to approve the pipeline “failed to comply with the legal duties set out in the Species at Risk Act.”
“The Governor in Council also failed to comply with [the act’s] duties, and instead unlawfully decided that the significant adverse environmental effects of project-related marine shipping on the Southern Residents could be justified,” court documents read.
The Crown corporation building the Trans Mountain pipeline has said shovels could be in the ground by September.
– with files from The Canadian Press
