President Donald Trump signed a presidential permit Thursday authorizing the Bridger Pipeline Expansion to cross the U.S.-Canada border between Saskatchewan and northeastern Montana, giving the company federal clearance to move forward with a project that stalled under previous administrations. The permit allows Bridger Pipeline LLC to construct a three-foot-wide line spanning 650 miles (1,050 kilometers) from Alberta through Montana and Wyoming, linking with existing domestic infrastructure to transport Canadian crude for U.S. refining or export.
At peak volume, the expanded route would move two-thirds as much oil as the now-defunct Keystone XL pipeline, which President Joe Biden canceled on his first day in office in 2021. The new line would carry various grades of crude, including oil from Canada’s oil sands region, though Trump’s permit also authorizes the transport of gasoline, kerosene, diesel and liquified petroleum gas. Bridger spokesperson Bill Salvin said the broader permit keeps the company’s options open, though operations will focus initially on crude.
Salvin said the company hopes to begin construction in the fall of 2027 and finish by late 2028 or early 2029, a timeline designed to complete the project before Trump’s term ends on Jan. 20, 2029. Bridger Pipeline stated that more than 70% of the route would run through existing pipeline corridors and 80% on private land, avoiding any Native American reservations. Salvin added that the line would carry crude to market, though the permit leaves room for future fuel transport.
Environmentalists and indigenous groups have long opposed major cross-border pipelines over spill risks, and Bridger’s own track record has drawn scrutiny. Subsidiaries of Bridger’s parent company, True Company, were responsible for multiple spills that fouled regional waterways, including a 2015 rupture at the Yellowstone River that released more than 50,000 gallons of crude, a 2016 spill that sent over 600,000 gallons of crude into North Dakota’s Little Missouri River and a tributary, and a 45,000-gallon diesel leak in Wyoming in 2022. True agreed to pay $12.5 million to settle federal lawsuits stemming from the North Dakota and Montana incidents.
Salvin said Bridger Pipeline has developed an AI-based leak detection system in the years since the Yellowstone spill and plans to bore 30 to 40 feet beneath major rivers like the Yellowstone and the Missouri to minimize future risks. “We designed the pipeline with integrity and safety in mind. We have emergency response plans should something happen where oil happens to get out of the line, which is fairly rare,” Salvin said.
Environmental groups including the Montana Environmental Information Center and WildEarth Guardians announced opposition following the announcement. “The biggest concern we see right now is the concern inherent in all pipeline projects which is the risk of spills,” said Jenny Harbine, an attorney with the environmental law firm Earthjustice. Trump framed the approval as a departure from the previous administration’s energy policy. “Slightly different from the last administration. They wouldn’t sign a pipeline deal. And we have pipelines going up,” Trump said.