Dakota Access Pipe Closed Down

Little Thunder rocks out in response to good news

A major victory for the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes in the battle against the Dakota Access Pipeline occurred today when a federal judge ordered the pipeline closed and emptied of oil by August 5th, while federal regulators perform an environmental review of the project.  The pipeline carries crude oil from North Dakota's Bakken shale field to a terminal in Illinois.  The  tribes have opposed the project alleging it represents a threat to the clean water in Lake Oahe, a reservoir on the Missouri River near their reservation.  The litigation has continued for four years.

As part of its comprehensive effort to reverse Obama-era environmental regulation, the Antichrist signed an order shortly after taking office overturning the denial of necessary permits from the Army Corps of Engineers.  The pipeline was completed and operating within months.  The federal District Court for the District of Columbia previously found that the Corps failed to prepare a required environmental impact statement (EIS) for the pipeline crossing under Lake Oahe.  Today's decision by Judge Boasberg concluded that the pipeline should not operate while the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements are met.  The Court noted that it was not requiring removal of the completed pipeline, but only "vacatur" of operation during the approximately 3.6 years it usually takes for the Corps to complete an EIS. Regulatory delay is one of the reasons the regime is so intent on curtailing NEPA reviews.

This decision comes just a day after two energy companies cancelled the Atlantic Coast pipeline, which was proposed to carry fracked gas through mid-Atlantic states for six hundred miles. The route would have cut through two national forests, under the Appalachian Trail, and would have crossed indigenous land. The former corporate lobbyist EPA head blamed a, "well-funded funded obstructionist environmental lobby" for cancelling the project. The decision to cancel came after a win in the Supreme Court removing a regulatory hurdle for the $8 billion pipeline. Green Kudos! to the obstructionists from US Person, aka 'Red Dwarf".