Army Corps Ready To Issue Final Permit For Dakota Access

The Army Corps of Engineers appears ready to approve the final permit required to build the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline.  The Dakota Access project has faced months of resistance from hundreds of indigenous nations and non-Native allies.   Policing the protests in North Dakota has cost the taxpayers over 22 million dollars.

North Dakota Senator John Hoeven said that acting Secretary of the Army Robert Speer has directed the Army Corps to issue the easement for Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind the pipeline.  The easement allows the company to drill underneath the Missouri River.

Energy Transfer Partners is poised to begin drilling under Lake Oahe as soon as approval is given. Workers have drilled entry and exit holes for the crossing and oil has been put in the pipeline leading up to the lake in anticipation of finishing the project. CEO Kelcy Warren has said the company should be able to finish the project in about three months once the permit is granted.

The 1,200-mile pipeline would carry North Dakota oil through the Dakotas and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois. Dallas-based developer Energy Transfer Partners had hoped to have the pipeline operating by the end of 2016, but construction has been stalled while the Corps and the company battled in court over the crossing.

An assessment conducted last year determined the crossing would not have a significant impact on the environment. However, on Dec. 4^th, then-Assistant Army Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy declined to issue permission for the crossing, saying a broader environmental study was warranted.  The Corps launched a study of the crossing on Jan. 18th. President Donald Trump signed an executive action Jan. 24 telling the Corps to quickly reconsider Darcy’s decision and shortly after court documents were filed that include a proposed Federal Register notice terminating the study.

The Corps has notified the remaining protesters that the government-owned land will be closed Feb. 22^nd 2017.  The Standing Rock Sioux and supporters fear a pipeline spill could contaminate the river, which serves as a drinking water source for millions.

Water protectors say that if the easement is granted, the government would be illegally circumventing the process of an environmental impact statement, which was ordered in December under President Obama’s administration. Members of the resistance camp Sacred Stone on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota have called for water protectors to come to support the resistance to the Dakota Access pipeline.