A U.S. court on Wednesday ruled against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ use of a permit that allows new energy pipelines to cross water bodies, in the latest setback to TC Energy Corp.’s plans to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

Keystone XL, which would carry 830,000 barrels per day of crude from Alberta to the U.S. Midwest, has been delayed for more than a decade by opposition from landowners, environmental groups and tribes, but construction was finally supposed to start this spring following a major investment by the Alberta government.

Northern Plains Resource Council and other activist groups challenged the Corps’ re-issuance of a nationwide permit in 2017.

Such permits are a means of streamlining the permitting process for certain projects, although the Army Corps can also issue permits case by case. Nationwide Permit 12, which governs projects such as pipelines and utility lines, must be reissued every five years or left to expire.

Montana Chief District Judge Brian Morris ruled that the Corps violated federal law by failing to adequately consult on risks to endangered species and habitat, and it must comply before it can apply the nationwide permit to any project.

The ruling does not affect current work on a span of the $11-billion Keystone XL pipeline across the Canada-U.S. border, but it does raise questions about securing water-crossing permissions for the rest of the route, said Jared Margolis, senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the plaintiffs.

“Most of the rest of the project has water crossings everywhere [so] it does affect construction overall,” Margolis said. “They can’t move forward now on huge chunks of the project.”

The U.S. Army Corps could not be immediately reached.

TC Energy is reviewing the ruling, said Terry Cunha, spokesperson for the Calgary, Alberta-based company.

“We remain committed to building this important energy infrastructure project.”

Alberta in March said it would invest $1.5 billion in Keystone XL, plus provide a $6-billion loan guarantee, to get the project built.

Kavi Bal, a spokesperson for Alberta Energy Minister Sonya Savage, reiterated the government’s commitment to the project in a statement to CBC News.

“A Montana judge ruled on a very narrow and specific decision asking the United States Army Corps of Engineers to conduct additional review regarding two specific Keystone XL pipeline river crossings,” he said.

“Keystone XL has had a significant amount of anti-energy activist opposition in the past and this challenge is not surprising. We cannot surrender development to those who seek to kill projects with endless court challenges.”

Bal said the consultation and review can take place while TC Energy proceeds with construction on other segments of the project.

“We remain committed to this extremely important project,” he said.

James Coleman, a law professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, said the decision poses yet another delay for the project, though it probably doesn’t change the calculus for the project significantly.

“This is just one more roadblock potentially to Keystone XL,” said James Coleman, a law professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.

“It’s asking the [U.S.] government to go back and do an Endangered Species Act consideration of whether … this blanket authorization has a negative impact on endangered species and, presumably, that might mean that you would have to do an environmental impact review as well.”

Coleman said the agency could try to comply with the court, appeal, or do both simultaneously. 

He said Endangered Species Act reviews can take varying amounts of time, but said a full environmental review — if it comes to that — can take years.

Increasingly, he said, it seems like no one can build an interstate or international project anymore unless they have government funding.

“It’s not so much that you need the money, you need the patience,” Coleman said.

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