Standing Rock Sioux have steadfast in their resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline both in and out of court. On Wednesday of last week, the tribe was rewarded with a decision in Federal District Court that found the pipeline project in violation of key environmental laws. District Court Judge James Boasberg wrote the US Corp of Engineers environmental assessment was inadequate. He wrote, "The many commenters in this case pointed to serious gaps in crucial
parts of the Corps’ analysis—to name a few, that the pipeline’s
leak-detection system was unlikely to work, that it was not designed to
catch slow spills, that the operator’s serious history of incidents had
not been taken into account, and that the worst-case scenario used by
the Corps of Engineers was potentially only a fraction of what a realistic figure
would be—and the Corps was not able to fill any of them."
Even though oil is flowing through pipe the judge stripped the pipeline of federal permits and directed a full environmental impact statement be undertaken for the entire length of the 1,172 mile pipe, which could take years. The regime is unrelenting hostile to environmental review of federal projects except for the most cursory assessments that reach a foregone conclusion. When the election of 2016 was decided, Don Douche set about steamrolling the project to completion without a full environmental impact statement being completed. The case is not over, and will undoubtedly be appealed by the owners. But the Standing Rock tribe chairperson said the legal win was "humbling" despite the fact it took four years to convince authorities to respect the tribe's defense of their water and earth.