NEW ORLEANS - A federal appeals court has approved the expansion of a major oil terminal in the Port of Corpus Christi over complaints the project would cause environmental harm and complicate the spiritual journeys of Native Americans.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' review and decision on the Moda Ingleside Crude Export Terminal in Ingleside was above board, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled March 28.
The site is the largest export terminal of crude oil in North America by volume, the decision notes, moving more than 11 million barrels each day. Its owner, Enbridge Oil Terminal, asked for permission in 2020 to dredge the seafloor and discharge that material into U.S. waters.
The project, approved in 2021, includes five new barge docks, a 1,700-foot-diameter turning basin and a deep-water ship dock.
But two groups objected, then filed suit after the improvements were approved. They are Ingleside on the Bay Coastal Watch Association and the Indigenous Peoples of the Coastal Bend.
The Coastal Watch Association is also fighting Enbridge's attempt to build an ammonia plant in Ingleside. But its attempt to stop the dredging project appears to have hit a brick wall.
District judge Drew Tipton had already rejected arguments the Corps failed to consider the risk of oil spills, failed to assess damage done to seagrasses, failed to weigh the problem of noise and light pollution in neighboring communities and ignored the impact on climate change.
The appeal raised these issues again.
"To the extent that Plaintiffs argue the Corps failed to address impacts such as oil spills and air, light and noise pollution independent of increased vessel traffic, those arguments fail on their merits," Judge Don Willett wrote.
"The Corps explicitly acknowledged that oil spills were a 'potential detrimental effect' of the project but found that the risk was 'of negligible, or less, concern.' The Corps also found that the expanded terminal 'actually reduces' pollutants by limiting the time vessels spend near shore."
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service produced concerns with the permit over its impact on seagrasses and wetlands, while others said the area, which includes McGloin's Bluff, was eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
The complaint said artifacts located at McGloin's Bluff represent the Karankawa people, Native Americans known to inhabit the area who used McGloin's Bluff from fall to spring when fish would spawn in Corpus Christi Bay.
"The area is deeply valued by the living members of the Karankawa tribe as a key location representative of their cultural history," the complaint said.
The increase in traffic would destroy their ability to pray and find spiritual joy in their ancestral lands and waters, the complaint said. The Karankawa meet there for spiritual ceremonies and drum circles in the area adjacent to Moda's fenceline.
Citing one member of the tribe, the complaint said she watches "the sparkling waters of the ocean and wildlife moving around the area, particularly dolphins and hawks, which are considered signs of approval from her ancestors."
These arguments weren't considered on appeal, though climate change was. Willett disregarded the claim increased vessel traffic would result in more fossil fuel emissions as forfeited under their unsuccessful increased-vessel-traffic arguments.
The Corps weighed a minor increased in emissions against "national goals of energy independence, national security and economic development."
"Plaintiffs fail to cite a single case from this circuit to support their argument that the analysis in the 'Climate Change' section of the (Environmental Assessment) was insufficient," Willett wrote.
"In our circuit, the Corps's obligations under NEPA to analyze climate change impacts are limited to 'discussing relevant factors and explaining its decision.' The Corps's discussion of climate change here easily meets that standard."