Protesters are marching in Great Falls this evening to rally opposition to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. The event was organized by groups suing in federal court to overturn the Trump Administration's presidential permit for the pipeline to run from Alberta, Canada across Northeast Montana, down to Nebraska.
There are about 40 people here walking along the River’s Edge Trail in Great Falls holding signs and chanting. They’re marching to the West Bank Park, behind the federal courthouse where tomorrow morning Judge Brian Morris will hear arguments in the case brought by Northern Plains Resource Council and four other conservation groups and tribal groups.
The groups plan to argue that the federal government’s environmental review of the Keystone XL was insufficient. Protesters here say that if the pipeline goes in, and runs through Montana, it will threaten their drinking and irrigation water.
But government lawyers and industry advocates say the environmental impacts of the proposed pipeline were studied for nearly a decade and a pipeline is the safest way to transport oil.
Landowners and Tribal members who live near the pipeline’s proposed path are expected to speak during the march this afternoon.