After months of legal wrangling and escalating protests over development of the Dakota Access Pipeline, three federal agencies on Sept. 9 temporarily halted construction along a 20-mile section of the route in North Dakota.
In a joint statement, the U.S. Depts. of Justice, Army and Interior said the Army will not authorize construction of the pipeline on Corps land bordering or under Lake Oahe in North Dakota until the Army can determine whether it will need to reconsider any previous decisions under the National Environmental Policy Act or other federal laws.
Lake Oahe is a reservoir along the Missouri River. “The Army will move expeditiously to make this determination, as everyone involved—including the pipeline company and its workers—deserves a clear and timely resolution,” the statement reads. Energy Transfer Partners did not release an official statement about the rulings but stated in a memo to employees that it remains committed to completing the project, which is nearly 60% finished, according to the Associated Press.
In a Sept. 9 statement, Dave Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said, “The Obama administration has asked tribes to the table to make sure that we have meaningful consultation on infrastructure projects. Native peoples have suffered generations of broken promises, and today the federal government said that national reform is needed to better ensure that tribes have a voice on infrastructure projects like this pipeline.”
Archambault’s statement quickly followed a ruling earlier the same day from U.S. District Judge James Boasberg that construction of the project could continue despite objections from the tribe. In his opinion on Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Judge Boasberg said the Corps had “likely complied” with the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and that the tribe “has not shown it will suffer injury that would be prevented by any injunction the court could issue.”