PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 15, 2021
The city has prevailed in the lawsuit brought by the Portland Pipe Line Corp., ending more than six years of federal litigation over a local law that effectively prevents the company from reversing the flow of its defunct World War II-era oil pipeline to bring crude from Canada to Maine. The company gave up the fight Thursday, filing an agreement with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to voluntarily dismiss its appeal of a previous federal court judgment upholding the ordinance. Passed by the City Council in 2014, the city’s Clear Skies ordinance prohibits bulk loading of crude oil onto marine tank vessels in the city’s harbor.