In Another Blow to North Dakota’s Wellbeing, Judge Orders Dakota Access Pipeline Shutdown Citing Obama-Era Error in Federal Permitting
MINOT, N.D. — “The Court will nonetheless require the oil to stop flowing and 24the pipeline to be emptied within 30 days from the date of this Opinion and accompanying Order.”
Those are the words of Judge James Boasberg, an Obama appointee who has been presiding over the long-running legal dispute over the Dakota Access Pipeline. His ruling Monday, July 6, is a big win for the Native American tribes and the left-wing activists. They fought (often with physical violence) to prevent the pipeline from being built, and have demanded its shutdown since it began operating.
At issue was a decision made by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the Obama administration to forgo a full Environmental Impact Statement.
This is not the fault of the state of North Dakota. This is a federal regulation. Nor is it the fault of Energy Transfer Partners, the folks who own DAPL. They don’t write the rules; they just follow them as instructed by the government.
