TransCanada all clear for pipeline build

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HOUSTON, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- TransCanada said it was pleased with a decision by a Texas judge to lift a restraining order for construction of the U.S. leg of the Keystone XL pipeline.

TransCanada spokesman Shawn Howard confirmed that a Texas court dissolved a restraining order issued following a landowner's complaints.

A judge in Nacogdoches County initially ruled in favor of Michael Bishop, who said TransCanada was misleading him about the type of crude oil designated for the so-called Gulf Coast project, planned through his property.

The Gulf Coast project is the U.S.-leg of the larger Keystone XL pipeline planned to move oil from Canada to the U.S. Gulf Coast. The pipeline is designated for tar sands oil, seen by critics as more corrosive and a greater environmental threat.

Howard, however, said "oil is oil" and there's nothing in the way of further pipeline construction.

"TransCanada has followed all of the laws established by the state of Texas and has the legal authority to construct the Gulf Coast pipeline and none of Mr. Bishop's claims are supported by credible facts," Howard said in a statement.