Federal judge strikes down Dakota Access Pipeline permits, orders re-assessment of risks.
Get short URL The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and allies are hailing a federal judge’s decision that the Dakota Access Pipeline’s permits shall be remanded until further notice.
US District Court Judge Boasberg of the District of Columbia did not order any interruption in the DAPL’s oil transporting operations on Wednesday, but he did issue a 91-page decision that states the US Army Corps of Engineers did not adequately consider various potential impacts of oil spills on fishing rights, hunting rights, or environmental justice, when it issued the permits.
An independent research firm, Clearview Energy Partners from Washington, DC, which looked into the case, pointed towards “omissions” in the Corps’ final analysis of the pipeline and may be taken care of soon, according to Reuters.
“We applaud the courts for protecting our laws and regulations from undue political influence and will ask the court to shut down pipeline operations immediately,” said Dave Archambault, III, Chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
Energy Transfer Partners could not be reached for comment, according to the Seattle Times.
The tribe is arguing that the pipeline is putting its water supply in the Missouri River, its tribal lands, and sacred sites, at risk.
The demonstrators against the construction of the pipeline call themselves “water protectors.” The Tribe has said that an oil spill in the Missouri River could be catastrophic to them, according to PBS.
Later last year, then-President Barack Obama recommended that the Army Corps of Engineers stop construction of the pipeline in order to start an environmental impact assessment before moving forward, according to the Seattle Times.
Energy Transfer Partners, the company developing the pipeline, soon started an important part of construction that included connecting two ends of the pipeline.