Montana Residents Challenge State’s Granting of Undisclosed Waiver for Bridger Pipeline Construction

Montana residents today challenged the Montana Department of Environmental Quality over the approval of an undisclosed waiver that allowed the proposed Bridger Pipeline to omit required information from an application for the construction of a massive tar sands oil pipeline in eastern Montana. The proposed pipeline could transport up to 1.13 million barrels of oil per day, more oil than the controversial, and now defunct, Keystone XL project, if approved.

Earthjustice submitted affidavits challenging DEQ’s waiver on behalf of Derf Johnson, deputy director of the Montana Environmental Information Center, and Wade Sikorski, a rancher in Montana whose land would be crossed by a power line providing electricity to the proposed pipeline.

“Reality is real, and so is the climate crisis,” said Wade Sikorski. “We simply cannot afford to ignore the very real consequences that fossil fuel projects like the Bridger pipeline could have on farms and ranches. As an aging farmer, I have witnessed how our changing climate threatens our food supply through heat waves, droughts, and extreme weather events. We must shift to renewable energy for the well-being of everyone’s children.”

In January 2026, Bridger asked DEQ to omit financial and environmental data from its application to obtain a Certificate of Compliance, a necessary step towards beginning construction on the pipeline, arguing—wrongly—that such information was irrelevant to the project. The information Bridger sought to keep out was required by Montana law and crucial to DEQ’s full and adequate analysis of the proposed pipeline, as it would include important issues such as whether the proposed pipeline was financially viable and how the pipeline would impact communities along the proposed routes. Because of the significant impacts that omitting information from an application like Bridger’s can have, Montana law required DEQ to both issue public notice of the waiver request and hold a public hearing. DEQ did neither. Instead, DEQ quietly approved the waiver request in February 2026. DEQ’s actions violate Montana law, the agency’s own administrative rules, and pave the way for Bridger to have the opportunity to cut more corners. Two Montanans, Wade Sikorski and Derf Johnson, are standing up to stop that from happening.

“The law requires the disclosure of information to the public — information that is incredibly important for evaluating the potential impacts of the pipeline on Montana’s environment and people,” said Derf Johnson, deputy director of the Montana Environmental Information Center. “It’s incredibly alarming that DEQ has allowed this Wyoming corporation to bypass the law through a waiver, but didn’t follow the steps in place to assure that such a waiver was appropriate and legal.”  

Despite the clear rules and requirements for granting a waiver, DEQ appears to be putting its finger on the scales in favor of industry. Bridger’s application describes DEQ’s decision as granting a “limited waiver” to omit financial information and data analysis of at least three alternative locations. But in a letter from the DEQ to Bridger granting the waiver request, DEQ makes clear that both pieces of information are relevant to their consideration of Bridger’s application for construction, making it necessary to proceed with public notice and public comment opportunities as specified under Montana law.

“Allowing public comments and hearings would require acknowledging the devastating environmental harm that tar sands oil pipelines can cause,” said Lars Phillips, senior attorney with Earthjustice’s Northern Rockies Office. “We are deeply concerned by DEQ’s decision to allow Bridger to omit critical information that the agency itself admits is relevant. If DEQ does not act quickly to reverse course, we will see them in Court.”

A coalition of Indigenous, conservation, and community groups recently raised concern over the proposed Bridger Pipeline, highlighting potential environmental impacts associated with tar sands oil, one of the world’s dirtiest and environmentally destructive fuel sources.