Washington on Friday sought to stop work on a controversial oil pipeline in North Dakota that has angered Native Americans, blocking any work on federal land and asking the company to “voluntarily pause” work nearby.
The move by the government came after a federal judge denied a request by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to halt construction on the 1,930km long project amid fears it could endanger its drinking water.
The tribe, which uses the Missouri River for its water supply, said allowing the pipeline to cross it just north of its reservation — near the campsite — would also destroy culturally significant lands nearby.
Photo: AP
The local tribe said it was railroaded by the pipeline’s developer and the US Army Corps of Engineers, the governmental body responsible for approving construction under the river (the state approved the rest of the route).
Nevertheless, US District Judge James Boasberg sided with the US Army Corps of Engineers and the pipeline’s developer Energy Transfer Partners, saying the tribe “has not shown it will suffer injury” if construction is allowed to proceed.
However, the government then said the matter needed more consideration, and blocked any work on federal land near or underneath Lake Oahe, an artificial lake formed by the damming of the Missouri River.
“The army will not authorize constructing the Dakota Access pipeline on Corps land bordering or under Lake Oahe until it can determine whether it will need to reconsider any of its previous decisions” on the site, authorities said in a statement.
“In the interim, we request that the pipeline company voluntarily pause all construction activity within 20 miles [32.19km] east or west of Lake Oahe,” said the statement from the army, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior.
The Dakota Access Pipeline would snake through four US states, delivering oil from North Dakota to Illinois, where it can be shipped to other parts of the country.
It could help reduce the cost of transporting North Dakota oil, enabling it to better compete with cheaper oil from Canada.
The tribe’s lawsuit alleged that the Army Corps of Engineers and the pipeline company did not adequately consider the potential environmental impacts of the project and did not seek the tribe’s counsel on the cultural impacts of digging in nearby lands.
The US government statement said “important issues” had been raised by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other tribal nations about both the Dakota Access Pipeline and other pipeline projects in general.
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