Opposition to the proposed Bayou Bridge pipeline is heating up as environmental groups turn to the courts to challenge not just the regulators who allowed the project, but the company behind the venture.

The conservationists filed a petition in the 19th Judicial District in Baton Rouge on Tuesday in hopes of getting a judge to compel Bayou Bridge LLC to turn over various documents. The Louisiana Bucket Brigade has also contended that the governor's office is also not meeting its obligations to turn over public records on the project.

...Pipeline opponents worry that the public is being left in the dark on the construction of the proposed 162-mile crude oil pipeline 

... In seeking land for Bayou Bridge, the company claimed it could expropriate property under eminent domain because the pipeline is "in the public interest and necessity," the lawsuit quotes. If Bayou Bridge can seize people's land to bury oil infrastructure for their own profit, the company should be subject to public records laws, the suit contends.

...In.. response to the suit, a Bayou Bridge spokeswoman said..that the pipeline will be a safe and reliable project that will contribute $1.8 million in property taxes in its first year and $17.6 million in sales tax during construction. However, the statement did not address the public records issues raised in the lawsuit.

...In December, the Bucket Brigade filed a lawsuit against the governor's office, claiming it failed to adequately respond to a records request for information related to the pipeline. 

...In addition to the public records suits, there are also pending suits against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources. Pipeline opponents are asking the U.S. District Court in Baton Rouge and the 23rd Judicial District Court in St. James, respectively, to overturn those agencies' approval of Bayou Bridge.