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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated the Federal Energy Regulator Committee’s permits to build a liquefied natural gas facility at Bradwood Landing between Astoria and Clatskanie on the Columbia River.

The court’s invalidated permits to build the facility and a pipeline, which would have been built by NorthernStar Natural Gas.

The court cited a few reasons for pulling the licenses, not the least of which was that the company filed for bankruptcy on May 4, 2010 and NorthernStar’s FERC permits for the pipeline were not deemed transferable to other parties interested in developing it.

The company’s permits for the facility were potentially transferable, but because the facility was integrated with the pipeline, transferring them would likely raise other legal questions, the court said.

BL Credit Holdings LLC had purchased all permits and intellectual property for the Bradwood site at an auction on November 5, 2010.

The state of Oregon had argued against the permits because the company didn’t have proper state and local licensing before the FERC permits were approved.

Washington State had also denied requests to certify the site under the Clean Water Act.