http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hQlwL2OlqATcXcVAACWGGnYFEMoAD8VOG0S00Delaware Wins High Court Fight Over NJ
2 days ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Delaware won a Supreme Court fight with New Jersey on Monday, likely killing a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal on the Delaware River.
The justices, in a 6-2 decision, said Delaware can block the project, even though it was proposed by energy giant BP for Jersey's side of the river.
Delaware said it wanted to stop the project because of safety concerns. The state owns the river bottom most of the way across the waterway, including the land on which a 2,200-foot-long pier would be built on the Jersey side.
The states agree that Delaware owns the land, but New Jersey argued that a century-old agreement allows each state to control piers on its side of the river.
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing for the court, said Delaware cannot block ordinary projects from going forward. The proposal at issue, however, "goes well beyond the ordinary or usual," she said.
Justices Samuel Alito and Antonin Scalia dissented. Under a 1905 agreement, Scalia said, New Jersey has exclusive authority over construction of wharves on its side of the river.
The states cited different provisions of their 1905 agreement that spells out, among other things, fishing rights and law enforcement authority on the portion of the 410-mile river that serves as the border between them.
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Breyer didn't vote because he has stock in BP which means Clarence Thomas supported us LIBERALS?
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