Dakota Access review to look at impact on tribe

BISMARCK, N.D. — A federal judge’s order for more environmental review of the already-operating Dakota Access oil pipeline has several potential outcomes, all of which could spark even more wrangling in a Washington, D.C., courtroom. The big question is whether the pipeline will be shut down while the case plays out — and if so, for how long.

Some questions and answers about the case:

WHAT IS THE PIPELINE AGAIN?

The $3.8 billion pipeline built by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners moves oil from western North Dakota to a distribution point in Illinois, where it can be shipped to the Gulf Coast and potentially lucrative markets abroad. It began operating June 1 and has the capacity to move half of North Dakota’s daily oil production. American Indian tribes in the Dakotas fear environmental and cultural harm — which ETP disputes — and are trying to persuade a federal judge to shut down the line that they’ve been battling nearly a year.

WHY IS THE COURT CASE STILL UNRESOLVED?

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on June 14 ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers “largely complied” with environmental law when permitting the pipeline. But he also said they didn’t adequately consider how an oil spill under the Missouri River might affect the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s fishing and hunting rights, or whether it might disproportionately affect the tribal community — a concept known as environmental justice. That aims to ensure development projects aren’t built in areas where minority populations might not have the resources to defend their rights.

In its analysis of the Missouri River crossing, the Corps studied the mostly white demographics in a half-mile radius, which the agency maintains is standard. But if the agency had gone another 88 yards — about the length of a football field — the study would have included the Standing Rock Reservation. The tribe accuses the Corps of gerrymandering.

Boasberg has ordered the Corps to reconsider those areas of its environmental analysis.

HOW BIG A DEAL IS THIS, REALLY?

It depends on whom you ask.

The Standing Rock tribe and its supporters have hailed it as a major victory.

But ETP spokeswoman Lisa Dillinger said the company “believes the record supports the fact that the Corps properly evaluated both issues.” And Justice Department spokeswoman Nicole Navas Oxman said attorneys will “continue vigorously defending the government’s actions.”

The White House said the administration is confident the federal analysis of the pipeline’s environmental impact is legally sound.