This story is produced by Montana Free Press/Mountain Journal in collaboration with Grist as part of the Report for America Local News Initiative.
The Bridger Pipeline Expansion project is progressing through the permitting stages at an unusually rapid pace. If completed, the $2 billion, 650-mile pipeline will stretch through Montana and Wyoming, serving as one of three proposed legs linking oil sands in Alberta, Canada, to the trading hub in Cushing, Oklahoma.
The Trump administration seems to have prioritized this project. The Bureau of Land Management has stated that the pipeline will undergo an expedited environmental review, and in late April, a cross-border permit was issued to the developer, allowing entry into the U.S. Documents indicate that Bridger Pipeline Expansion, LLC, a subsidiary of True Companies based in Wyoming, aims to commence construction by July 2027, contingent on obtaining state and federal approvals.
However, the project encountered an obstacle when the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) rescinded a waiver it had previously granted. This waiver had exempted the company from providing certain financial and baseline environmental data in its state permit application with DEQ. The construction of the pipeline cannot proceed without this permit and final federal approval.
The debate centers around Montana’s Major Facility Siting Act, which stipulates the process for assessing the economic, community, and environmental impacts of significant energy projects like pipelines. Earlier this year, Bridger sought a waiver to exclude some financial and environmental information from its DEQ application. Although the law permits the omission of “irrelevant information,” DEQ initially granted the waiver in February but has since reversed its decision.
In June, Earthjustice, an environmental law firm, filed a complaint on behalf of two Montana residents against DEQ’s waiver decision. According to Lars Phillips, an attorney with Earthjustice, the omitted information is essential for a comprehensive review process.
“The law is clear, and DEQ was right to reverse course,” Phillips stated. “But we are troubled by why DEQ decided to issue these waivers in the first place.”
Such large-scale projects require both state and federal approval. In May, Montana DEQ and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management held a public comment period regarding the pipeline proposal. Phillips noted that without Earthjustice’s efforts to uncover the waived information, the public would not have realized they were commenting on an incomplete application.
The pipeline is projected to transport approximately 500,000 barrels of crude tar sands oil daily, according to DEQ documents. At full capacity, this figure could rise to 1.13 million barrels per day, moving from Canada through Montana and into Wyoming.
Supporters have dubbed the project “Keystone Light,” drawing a parallel to the Keystone XL Pipeline, which was canceled in 2021 by then-President Joe Biden. Shannon James from the Montana Environmental Information Center argued against the nickname, saying, “It’s Keystone XXL and a significant climate threat that far too many people haven’t heard about yet.”
James and other critics have expressed concerns about the environmental risks posed by the pipeline’s route, which would cross water bodies 150 times.
“Pipelines leak,” James remarked. “It’s not a matter of if, but when. We should not be giving the green light to a company with a troubling track record in our state, especially before it has fully disclosed the impacts this project would have on Montana’s people, water, wildlife, and climate.”
In an email shared with Montana Free Press, Jeremiah Langston, a DEQ lawyer, stated that the agency is requiring Bridger to provide the necessary information to proceed with the application. Langston emphasized that the permitting process cannot advance until the application is complete, and it is Bridger’s responsibility to submit the additional information DEQ has requested.
Phillips views DEQ’s actions to address application gaps as a positive step but expressed a desire for the agency to have been more proactive in informing the public.
“It is unfortunate that it took two Montanans standing up to big oil to force DEQ to require Bridger to comply with Montana law,” he said.
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