Work for the Rio Grande LNG terminal and related Rio Bravo Pipeline proposed by NextDecade Corp. in South Texas may proceed after a challenge against the water permits was dismissed.

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The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit last Thursday said a claim brought by a Rio Grande Valley fishermen association and environmental groups against a Clean Water Act permit didn’t prove a fault in the permitting process (No. 21-60889). The groups argued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers didn’t properly assure the firm’s plan was the “least environmentally damaging” before granting approval.

In an opinion written by Judge Carolyn Dineen King, the three-judge panel concluded the groups failed to prove that an alternative plan would reduce impact to wetlands.

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