NATION/WORLD
Wednesday, February 1, 2017
East Oregonian
Army Corps told to approve Dakota pipeline
Easement could be
approved within
days, says senator
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP)
— The Army Corps of Engi-
neers was ordered to allow
construction of the Dakota
Access pipeline to proceed
under a disputed Missouri
River crossing, North Dakota
Sen. John Hoeven said on
Tuesday, the latest twist in a
months-long legal battle over
the $3.8 billion project.
The Standing Rock Sioux,
whose opposition to the
project attracted thousands
of supporters from around
the country to North Dakota,
immediately vowed to again
go to court to stop it.
Hoeven announced late
Tuesday that the acting
Secretary of the Army,
Robert Speer, had directed
the Army Corps of Engineers
to “proceed” with an ease-
ment necessary to complete
the pipeline. Hoeven said
he also spoke with Vice
President Mike Pence, just a
week after President Donald
Trump signed an executive
order signaling his support
for the project.
A spokesman for the U.S.
Army did not immediately
respond to requests for
comment Tuesday night.
Hoeven spokesman Don
Canton says that Speer’s
move means the easement
“isn’t quite issued yet, but
they plan to approve it”
within days.
The crossing under Lake
Oahe, a wide section of the
Tom Stromme/The Bismarck Tribune via AP, File
In this Oct. 10, 2016, file photo, law enforcement of-
ficers, left, drag a person from a protest against the
Dakota Access Pipeline, near the town of St. Anthony
in rural Morton County, N.D.
Missouri River in southern
North Dakota, is the final big
chunk of work on the four-
state, $3.8 billion pipeline
to carry North Dakota oil
through South Dakota and
Iowa to Illinois. President
Donald Trump on Jan. 24
called on the Army Corps of
Engineers to reconsider its
December decision to with-
hold permission until more
study is done on the crossing.
The pipeline has been the
target of months of protests
led by the Standing Rock
Sioux, whose reservation lies
near the pipeline’s route and
who have argued that it’s a
threat to water.
The tribe has vowed to
challenge any granting of
the easement in court, and
Chairman Dave Archambault
renewed that vow Tuesday
night.
“If it does become a done
deal in the next few days,
we’ll take it to the judicial
system,” Archambault said.
He added: “This is a good
indicator of what this country
is going to be up against
in the next four years. So
America has to brace itself.”
The developer, Texas-
based Energy Transfer Part-
ners, says the pipeline would
be safe.
An
environmental
assessment conducted last
year determined the crossing
would not have a significant
impact on the environment.
However,
then-Assistant
Army Secretary for Civil
Works Jo-Ellen Darcy on
Dec. 4 declined to issue an
easement, saying a broader
environmental study was
warranted in the wake of
opposition by the Standing
Rock Sioux.
Energy Transfer Parters
called Darcy’s decision polit-
ically motivated and accused
then-President
Barack
Obama’s administration of
delaying the matter until he
left office. Two days before
he left the White House, the
Corps launched a study of the
crossing that could take up to
two years to complete.
President Donald Trump
on Jan. 24 — just four days
after he took office — signed
an executive action telling
the Corps to quickly recon-
sider the Dec. 4 decision.
The company appears
poised to begin drilling
under the lake immediately.
Workers have already drilled
entry and exit holes for
the Oahe crossing, and the
company has put oil in the
pipeline leading up to the lake
in anticipation of finishing
the project, its executive vice
president Joey Mahmoud
said in court documents filed
earlier this month.
Hundreds and at times
thousands
of
pipeline
opponents
who
have
dubbed themselves “water
protectors” have camped
on federal land near the
crossing site since last
August, often clashing with
police and prompting more
than 625 arrests. The camp’s
population has thinned to
fewer than 300 due to harsh
winter weather and a plea
by Standing Rock Chairman
Dave Archambault for the
camp to disband before the
spring flooding season.
A timeline of events
December 2014 — Dallas-based Energy Transfer
Partners applies to the federal government to build the
1,200-mile Dakota Access pipeline to carry North Dakota
oil through South Dakota and Iowa to an existing pipeline
in Illinois. The pipeline is projected to carry half a million
barrels of oil daily. The proposed route skirts the Standing
Rock Sioux tribe’s reservation and crosses under Lake
Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir in North Dakota that
serves as the tribe’s drinking water source.
March 2016 — Iowa regulators approve the pipeline,
making it the fourth and final state to grant permission.
April 2016 — Opponents establish a camp at the
confluence of the Cannonball and Missouri rivers in
southern North Dakota for peaceful protest. Camps in the
area would later swell to thousands of people.
July 2016 — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers grants
pipeline permits at more than 200 water crossings. The
Standing Rock Sioux sues a day later. The Cheyenne River
Sioux later join the lawsuit as plaintiffs.
Aug. 10 — North Dakota authorities make the first
arrests of protesters. The total has since surpassed 600,
including actress Shailene Woodley and Green Party
presidential candidate Jill Stein.
Sept. 9 — U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg
denies an attempt by the Standing Rock Sioux to halt
pipeline construction. The same day, the Army, the
Department of Justice and the Interior Department declare
that construction bordering or under Lake Oahe won’t go
forward pending further review.
Nov. 20, 21 — Authorities use tear gas, rubber bullets
and water sprays on protesters who they say assaulted
officers with rocks and burning logs at a blockaded bridge,
in one of the most violent clashes of the protest.
Dec. 4 — Assistant Army Secretary for Civil Works
Jo-Ellen Darcy declines to allow the pipeline to be built
under Lake Oahe in part because she says alternate routes
need to be considered. Energy Transfer Partners calls
the decision politically motivated and accuses President
Barack Obama’s administration of delaying the matter
until he leaves office.
Jan. 18, 2017 — The Army Corps launches a full
environmental study of the pipeline’s disputed Lake Oahe
crossing, a study that could take up to two years. Boasberg,
the federal judge, rejects an ETP request to stop the study.
Jan. 24 — President Donald Trump signs executive
actions to advance the construction of the Dakota Access
oil pipeline, along with the Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Jan. 31 — Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota says the
Acting Secretary of the Army has directed the Army Corps
of Engineers to proceed with an easement necessary to
complete the pipeline.
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