The Army Corps of Engineers was "arbitrary and capricious" in some of its decisions granting construction permits for the controversial Bayou Bridge Pipeline, a federal judge indicating in a ruling halting the pipeline's construction until the issue can be heard in court.

In a written opinion issued late Tuesday (Feb. 27), U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick charged that the Army Corps of Engineers was "arbitrary and capricious" in concluding that a more detailed analysis was not needed before determining that the project's environmental effects could be legally offset by the company buying credits equivalent to more than 2,000 acres of damaged wetlands at mitigation banks located in different ecological areas miles from the pipeline route.

She also agreed with environmental groups that construction of the pipeline posed a threat of irreparable harm to both ancient trees within the Atchafalaya basin and to its hydrology, the flow of water through the basin...