The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
WHY DISPUTED PIPELINE IS CLOSER TO COMPLETION
Decision clears way for Dakota Access to be completed.
BISMARCK, N.D. — The Army said Tuesday that it will allow the $3.8 billion Dakota Access oil pipeline to cross under a Missouri River reservoir in North Dakota, clearing the way for completion of the disputed four-state project.
However, construction could still be delayed because the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which has led opposition, said it would fight the latest development in court.
The Army Corps of Engineers, which has the final word on pipelines that pass under interstate waterways, intends to cancel further environmental study and allow work on the Lake Oahe crossing to begin as early as today, according to court documents the Justice Department filed.
The stretch under Lake Oahe is the final major link in the 1,200-mile pipeline that would carry North Dakota oil through the Dakotas and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois. Developer Energy Transfer Partners had hoped to have the pipeline operating by the end of 2016, but construction had been stalled while the Army Corps of Engineers and the Dallas-based company battled in court over the crossing.
The Standing Rock Sioux, whose reservation is just downstream from the crossing, fear a leak would pollute its drinking water. The tribe has led protests that drew hundreds and at times thousands of people who dubbed themselves “water protectors” to an encampment near the crossing.
Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault said the tribe was “undaunted” by the Army’s decision. Even if the pipeline is finished and begins operating, he said, the tribe will push to get it shut down.
An assessment conducted last year determined the crossing would not have a significant impact on the environment. However, then-Assistant Army Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy on Dec. 4 declined to issue permission for the crossing, saying a broader environmental study was warranted.
ETP called Darcy’s decision politically motivated and accused then-President Barack Obama’s administration of delaying the matter until he left office. The Corps launched a study of the crossing on Jan. 18 that could have taken up to two years to complete.
President Donald Trump, who took office Jan. 20, signed an executive action four days later telling the Corps to quickly reconsider Darcy’s decision.
The court documents filed Tuesday include a proposed Federal Register notice terminating the study.
“I have determined that there is no cause for completing any additional environmental analysis,” Acting Assistant Army Secretary Douglas Lamont said in a memo.
The Standing Rock Sioux argues that under the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1888, the federal government is obliged to consider a tribe’s welfare.
“The Obama administration correctly found that the tribe’s treaty rights needed to be respected, and that the easement should not be granted without further review and consideration of alternative crossing locations,” said Jan Hasselman, an attorney for the tribe.
“Trump’s reversal of that decision continues a historic pattern of broken promises to Indian tribes and violation of treaty rights. They will be held accountable in court.”
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe said it would fight the decision in court.