New York: The Obama administration said it would not allow work on federal land along the route of Energy Transfer Partners LP’s controversial crude oil pipeline, less than an hour after a judge ruled construction could proceed on the $3.8 billion project.
The Army Corps of Engineers has not yet authorised construction near Lake Oahe along the border of North and South Dakota, the US Department of Justice said in a statement Friday. As a result, the department asked Energy Transfer to voluntarily pause building 20 miles east or west of the lake until the Corps makes a decision.
Earlier, a federal judge ruled construction could proceed on the Dakota Access Pipeline, a decision seen as a blow to critics who said the project would damage culturally significant sites and create an environmental hazard where it crosses the Missouri River.
The project likely complies with the National Historic Preservation Act, wrote US District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, in a memorandum accompanying his Friday opinion. “The Tribe has not shown it will suffer injury that would be prevented by any injunction the Court could issue,” he said.
Standing Rock Tribe
The Justice Department, in a joint statement with the Department of the Army and the Department of the Interior, said it needs to determine whether it’s necessary to reconsider previous decisions regarding the Lake Oahe site under the National Environmental Policy Act and other federal laws.
“It was absolutely the right move,” said Jane Kleeb, president of activist group Bold Alliance and, before the current battle, a prominent opponent of TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL oil pipeline. “They listened to the people on the ground and really looked at what’s been happening.”
Last year, the Obama administration had intervened to reject plans for Keystone. The president said the project — which had been the subject of heated debate for seven years — wouldn’t make a meaningful contribution to the US economy, lower gasoline prices or increase the country’s energy security.
More Talking Needed
The Dakota Access case highlights “the need for a serious discussion on whether there should be nationwide reform with respect to considering tribes’ views on these types of infrastructure projects,” the Justice Department said, noting a plan to invite tribes to formal consultations this fall.
Construction on a segment of the pipeline in North Dakota was stalled after the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe filed a lawsuit challenging the federal permits for the project in July. Bold Alliance, an activist group that includes members who successfully fought the Keystone XL pipeline, has been organising protests and reaching out to politicians.
Energy Transfer says it’s taken appropriate safety measures and that the pipeline will create 8,000 to 12,000 jobs during construction. A spokeswoman for the Dallas-based company declined to comment.
The government’s intervention leaves Energy Transfer officials in limbo, whereas “at least with the court they had some certainty on timelines and how things are moving forward. Here they have no idea yet when this review is going to be complete,” said Brandon Barnes, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst. Though he said he sees no threat yet to completing the project on schedule by the end of the year, “we don’t know how long this delay will last.”
The 1,172-mile project would run through four states from North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois, where it would join another Energy Transfer line that carries oil to refineries in Nederland, Texas, on the Gulf Coast. Energy Transfer is overseeing the project, which is jointly owned with Sunoco Logistics Partners LP, a joint venture between Marathon Petroleum Corp., Enbridge Energy Partners LP and Phillips 66.
Celebrity Opposition
The pipeline has also come under fire in Iowa where landowners who objected to its use of eminent domain asked the Iowa Utilities Board to halt the project, but were denied.
Since then, opposition has intensified. Thirty protesters were arrested in August for trespassing on the project’s construction site in Iowa, and eight were arrested in North Dakota. Morton County’s sheriff’s department in North Dakota has issued an arrest warrant for Jill Stein, the Green Party’s presidential candidate, for trespassing and spray-painting construction equipment on private property.
North Dakota Governor John Dalrymple authorised a restricted emergency declaration last month, making state resources available to manage safety amid ongoing protests. The state National Guard was called in to support local law enforcement.
Hollywood has chimed in as well: Rallies have included actresses Susan Sarandon and Shailene Woodley. Cast members of the upcoming movie “The Justice League,” including Ben Affleck, spoke out against the pipeline in a video posted on Instagram. Actor and activist Leonardo DiCaprio has also voiced support for the protesters.
Bakken Drillers
The pipeline would help cut costs for Bakken region drillers, which have had to turn to more expensive rail shipments when existing pipes filled up. Dakota Access, with a capacity of about 470,000 barrels a day, would ship roughly half of current Bakken crude production and allow producers to access Midwest and Gulf Coast markets.
Energy Transfer fell 3.6 per cent to $39.14 during late trading in New York.
The case is Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. US Army Corps of Engineers, 16-01534, US District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).
