A Decade After Standing Rock Protests, Contentious Segment of Dakota Access Oil Pipeline Gets OK
The pipeline can keep operating under added leak detection and water monitoring requirements after a multiyear review, the Corps said.
- On Thursday, the Army Corps officially granted the Dakota Access Pipeline a permit to cross under Lake Oahe, concluding a six-year environmental review and authorizing the pipeline's continued operation under new safety conditions.
- A 2020 federal court order mandated the rigorous environmental assessment after the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe challenged the original permit and massive 2016 and 2017 protests forced legal action. The agency was required to complete the review before re-authorizing the easement.
- New easement conditions require Energy Transfer to implement enhanced leak detection technology, groundwater monitoring, and surface water testing. The company must also develop an alternate water supply and food distribution plan for communities relying on Lake Oahe.
- Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, North Dakota Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong, and U.S. Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer welcomed the decision, with Burgum calling the finalized study a relief from uncertainty for the Bakken oil field.
- The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe maintains the proposal "does not remedy" concerns regarding water safety, signaling likely future litigation. Meanwhile, Energy Transfer and Enbridge are exploring a project to move about 250,000 daily barrels of Canadian oil through the pipeline.
26 Articles
26 Articles
US approves Dakota Access easement nearly a decade after pipeline started pushing oil
WASHINGTON — An easement for a controversial pipeline that crosses the Missouri River near tribal land in North Dakota has been approved nearly a decade after it started transporting oil. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday, May 21, authorized a final environmental impact statement for the Dakota Access Pipeline, according to a news release. The decision approves an easement for the 1,172-mile pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe, a reserv…
A decade after Standing Rock protests, contentious segment of Dakota Access oil pipeline gets OK
Federal officials have given final approval for a controversial segment of the Dakota Access oil pipeline that crosses the Missouri River.
U.S. Army Corps Record of Decision for Dakota Access Pipeline
BISMARCK, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Gov. Kelly Armstrong issued the following statement today after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed the Record of Decision for the Dakota Access Pipeline Final Environmental Impact Statement. This approval reinstates the easement for the pipeline to cross beneath Lake Oahe and allows pipeline operations to continue. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum announced the Corps’ decision this morning at the …
Army Corps of Engineers approves operations continuing with the Dakota Access Pipeline
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved an easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross beneath Lake Oahe and allows operations to continue. U.S. Secretary of Interior and former North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum made the announcement at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck. The announcement also completes a court-ordered environmental review. “The Dakota Access Pipeline has operated safely for nearly nine …
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