Another Loss for #NoDAPL: Judge Rules That Dakota Access Pipeline Can Remain Open
Protest organizer Kristen Kelsch hold a sign and chants across the street from the State Capitol in Bismarck on Thursday. A line of police prevented Kelsch and others from hold the protest to the Dakota Access Pipeline on the Capitol grounds
The Dakota Access Pipeline has been open and moving oil for months now, but there was a chance that a federal judge could shut that flow down based on legal maneuvering by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the activist lawyers representing them.
Earlier this year federal Judge James Boasberg found that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had deficiencies in their analysis of the pipeline project under NEPA (the National Environmental Protection Act) even though the federal agency had “substantially complied” with the law.
But after months of legal wrangling, Boasberg concluded stopping the oil flow so the Corps could stage a do-over doesn’t make sense since the Corps would probably just reach the same conclusion anyway:
Here’s the conclusion from Boasberg’s opinion, the entirety of which you can read below:
I will never underestimate the ability of left wing environmental groups to find new things to litigate over, but with this opinion I think the last real legal threat to the Dakota Access Pipeline is gone.
It’s here to stay, which is a good thing given that it’s currently pumping about $6 million per month in tax revenues into North Dakota’s coffers.
Here’s the full opinion:
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