Rio Grande LNG survives water permit challenge

US firm NextDecade's proposed 27mn t/yr Rio Grande LNG export facility and a related natural gas pipeline prevailed today against a lawsuit that challenged water permits for the project.

The US Army Corps of Engineers had chosen the "least environmentally damaging" option when it approved the project's water permits, a three-judge panel on 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today. The federal appeals court also found regulators did not act arbitrarily when evaluating the effects of building the natural gas export project.

The proposed LNG project would be located at a site near Brownsville, Texas. The project would receive gas from the proposed 4.5 Bcf/d (127mn m³/d) Rio Bravo pipeline, which would stretch 130 miles (209km) to the Agua Dulce hub, near Corpus Christi, Texas.

The Sierra Club and other environmentalists had filed their lawsuit to challenge federal water permits for the LNG project and the pipeline. They said the two projects should have been revised to better protect wetlands, but the 5th Circuit found regulators were justified in issuing the permits.

NextDecade plans to make a final investment decision on three liquefaction trains at Rio Grande LNG project by this quarter. The gas export facility is proposed to eventually have a total of five trains, each with 5.4mn t/yr of liquefaction capacity.

By Chris Knight