The city of South Portland may enlist Boston law firm Foley Hoag to defend against a federal lawsuit filed by Portland Pipe Line Corp. earlier this month.
The Portland Press Herald reported that Portland Pipe Line is seeking to overturn the city’s ban on the loading of crude oil onto marine vessels. The ordinance was passed last year as a way to prevent the company from reversing its South Portland-Montreal pipeline to bring oil — and possibly tar sands oil —  into the city’s waterfront.
The City Council is set to vote on Foley Hoag’s legal contract on Monday. If hired, Foley Hoag would defend South Portland against assertions by Portland Pipe Line that the city’s crude-oil ban is interfering with interstate trade, diminishing the value of its pipeline, discriminating against Canadian interests and infringing on federal regulatory processes.
Source:Â Portland Press Herald
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