US authorities clear pathway for Dakota pipeline

WASHINGTON: US authorities said Tuesday they will approve a permit to complete the controversial Dakota Access pipeline to reduce transportation costs and give US producers a boost as they compete against oil from Canada.

The decision comes after months of protests by Native Americans and their supporters led the Obama administration to nix plans to build the pipeline close to native grounds.

But President Donald Trump supported the 1,172-mile (1,886kilometre) oil pipeline, which would snake through four US states, and ordered officials to reconsider.

The Army Corps of Engineers, which has approval authority, said Tuesday that it had ‘completed a presidential- directed review’ and planned to grant permission for the pipeline to cross government land at the Missouri River and man-made Lake Oahe reservoir — the final sticking point, which will effectively allow the last stretch of the pipeline to be completed.

The reservoir is the drinking water source for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which objects to the pipeline’s routes.

The tribe vowed to challenge The Army’s decision in court, and called on supporters to head to Washington on March 10 for ‘a Native Nations march’.

“We ask that our allies join us in demanding that Congress demand a fair and accurate process,” tribe chairman Dave Archambault said in a statement. — AFP

Demonstrators taking part in the ‘Scotland says stay’ rally are moved on from outside the Scottish Parliament as the debate on the triggering of article 50 in the main chamber takes place in Edinburgh, Scotland, Britain. — Reuters photo