Media Contact:
Rebekah Staub, Permian-Gulf Communications Manager, rstaub@earthworks.org
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana — The United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit will hear oral arguments today in the case challenging the Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT), a proposed massive Gulf Coast deepwater oil export facility off the coast of Brazoria County, Texas.
SPOT would be the largest offshore export terminal in the United States, with the capacity to export 2 million barrels of crude oil per day — a 50% increase over last year’s total oil exports. Operation of the facility would promote massive oil production expansion in the Permian Basin and disastrous levels of greenhouse gas pollution for the 30-year life of the project. Conservative estimates project that SPOT will lead to emissions equivalent to operating nearly 90 new coal-fired power plants.
Based on the project’s inadequate environmental and public health review and climate harms, Sierra Club, Turtle Island Restoration Network, Citizens for Clean Air & Clean Water of Brazoria County, Texas Campaign for the Environment, and the Center for Biological Diversity filed suit against the Department of Transportation in U.S. federal court.
When: Wednesday, November 8 at 1:00 PM Central
Where: En Banc Courtroom, John Minor Wisdom United States Court of Appeals Building, 600 Camp St., New Orleans, LA 70130 (map)
Livestream: https://www.ca5.uscourts.gov/oral-argument-information/court-calendars/LiveStreams/
Melanie Oldham, petitioner and founder of Better Brazoria, said: “We have made it clear time and time again to the EPA, the Maritime Administration, and all the bad actors pushing these projects, that they are overburdening our community with the fossil fuel industry buildout, and SPOT will make the situation worse for us. The legal briefing that the coalition of attorneys filed on behalf of our community and the environment lays out all the problems with the SPOT project, from potential oil spill disasters to climate change destruction.”