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US judge momentarily blocks $649 million clean-energy transmission line

A federal judge on Friday briefly obstructed a land swap required before developers can build a significant cleanenergy transmission line through a. Mississippi River wildlife refuge, according to attorneys. involved in the case.

U.S. District Judge William Conley issued an initial. injunction suspending U.S. government approvals for the land. swap during a hearing in Madison, Wisconsin, in a difficulty to. the nearly complete $649 million Cardinal-Hickory Creek. high-voltage line brought by three ecological groups,. lawyers for the groups and agents for the job. designers said.

The choice effectively obstructs designers ITC Midwest and. Dairyland Power Cooperative from clear-cutting a path for the. line through the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and. Fish Haven till Conley can think about the environmental groups'. difficulty on its merits.

The developers said in a statement that they disagree with. the court's choice to obstruct building on the last mile of. the 102-mile (164 km) job, and said licenses were released for. the project constant with the government's authority under. U.S. ecological evaluation and security laws.

Howard Learner, a lawyer for the environmental groups,. stated the court made the best decision due to the fact that the transmission. line would trigger permanent harm to the sanctuary.

The U.S. Interior Department and U.S. Army Corps of. Engineers, which were involved in approving the land exchange,. decreased to comment. The exchange approved last month would swap. around 20 acres (8 hectares) of haven land in the path of the. transmission line to the designers in exchange for 35 acres of. land that would be included elsewhere to the refuge.

The power line is a joint task between ITC, Dairyland and. a 3rd business, American Transmission Co LLC. The 3. business say the line will link more than 160 eco-friendly. energy tasks to the Midwestern energy grid when complete.

Driftless Area Land Conservancy, the National Wildlife. Sanctuary Association and the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation took legal action against. the U.S. government on March 6 seeking to obstruct the land swap.

They declared the federal approvals violated the National. Because constructing the, Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act. transmission line in the refuge would ruin floodplains and. piece essential environment for wildlife, which is irregular with. the haven's preservation purpose.

The task's designers have said a years-long analysis of. the land swap revealed it would enhance the quality of the haven. and increase its total area.

(source: Reuters)