Energy Transfer Partners, the company behind Dakota Access, is also proposing to build the Trans Pecos Pipeline to ship Texas natural gas to Mexico, a matrix of cryogenic and fractionation plants in western Pennsylvania, and the Mariner East Pipeline system to bring natural gas liquids to from the Marcellus Shale to coastal chemical plants and export.
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The US Justice Department ordered a halt Friday to construction of an oil pipeline opposed by a native American tribe in North Dakota. The pipeline would cross under a dammed section of the Missouri River that serves as a source of water for the tribe, and tribal leaders worry about the effects of an accident or spill.
That decision likely influenced the Army’s announcement, which saw the writing on the wall.
Like the Standing Rock Sioux, Maine’s tribes have had conflicts with government and industry.
The tribe argued that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had a duty under the National Historic Preservation Act to consult with the tribe before issuing a permit for the pipeline, but the judge wrote that the corps probably has complied with the law.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington rejected a request for a court order to stop the project, but the government blocked construction in a response to growing opposition. In a nod to future decisions the statement said, “this case has highlighted the need for a serious discussion on whether there should be nationwide reform with respect to considering tribes’ views on these types of infrastructure projects”. Everything in its path will die, ” Wokase from the Standing Rock Sioux said.
Earlier in the day, thousands of protesters, many from tribes around the country, gathered near the reservation that straddles the North and South Dakota border.
The two companies formed a joint venture called Bakken Holdings that owned a 75% stake in Dakota Access LLC and Energy Transfer Crude Oil Co.
The US government’s move effectively blocks the firm behind Dakota Access Pipeline from construction around a lake and its surrounding areas, until further consultation with Native American tribes. “We will have to pursue our options with an appeal and hope that construction isn’t completed while that (appeal) process is going forward”, he said.
Across the several states affected, Dakota Access has also faced protests from landowners who object to the use of eminent domain to force the sale of privately owned lands.
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Activists were dealt a blow on Friday when a federal judge denied their request for a halt, but the Obama administration made their decision shortly after, lifting the spirits of those who have fought so long. Thirty protesters were arrested in August for trespassing on the project’s construction site in Iowa, and eight were arrested in North Dakota.
