{"id":6762,"date":"2012-02-29T14:23:22","date_gmt":"2012-02-29T20:23:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/?p=6762"},"modified":"2012-02-29T14:24:19","modified_gmt":"2012-02-29T20:24:19","slug":"how-keystone-xl-beat-a-farmers-restraining-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/texas\/2012\/02\/29\/how-keystone-xl-beat-a-farmers-restraining-order\/","title":{"rendered":"How Keystone XL Beat a Farmer’s Restraining Order"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Mladen Antonov\/AFP\/Getty Images)<\/p>

Protestors agains the Keystone XL pipeline gather outside the White House last August.<\/p><\/div>\n

On Friday, a district court judge dissolved a\u00a0temporary\u00a0restraining order<\/a> filed by Lamar County farmer Julia Trigg Crawford and her family against TransCanada, the company behind the Keystone XL pipeline. That pipeline would run nearly 1,700 miles from the oil sands of Alberta, Canada to\u00a0refineries\u00a0on the gulf coast. Just days after the restraining order was removed, the company announced it intended to go ahead and start construction on a southern portion of the pipeline from Cushing, Oklahoma to Port Arthur, Texas.<\/a><\/p>\n

Just how did the company beat the restraining order?<\/p>\n

TransCanada’s motion to dissolve it (embedded below) outlines the argument that won over the judge. Under Texas law, temporary restraining orders can’t be given unless the “adverse party” (in this case, TransCanada) is given notice. The exception is if “immediate and\u00a0irreparable\u00a0injury, loss, or\u00a0damage\u00a0will result to the applicant before notice can be served.” Crawford’s attorney argued that Caddo Indian artifacts<\/a> on her land would be damaged, but TransCanada’s assurance that they wouldn’t appears to have won over the judge.<\/p>\n

The company argues that since it had deposited twice the amount of the money it feels is fair market value for the land with the court, it was entitled to proceed with condemnation of Crawford’s property.\u00a0In its motion, TransCanada estimates the amount it owes Crawford for the land and damages is\u00a0$10,395.<\/p>\n

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