ConocoPhillips decision for estimated $8B North Slope energy development comes four days after U.S. appeals court rejected opponents' latest plea to stop $900M of winter construction work now underway.
Amid site protest arrests, a Richmond, Va. appeals court panel admits its cancelled jurisdiction to rule on suits seeking to stop the $6.6 billion gas line's completion, but route landowners are pressing another court to keep their eminent domain lawsuit alive.