[Dialogue] DAPL breaking news

[Karenbueno via Dialogue]

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Breaking: DAPL Approval Illegal, Judge Finds
Judge James Boasberg’s 91-page decision saysU.S. Army Corps ‘did not adequately consider’ oil spill impacts; no ruling onwhether to keep DAPL operational
ICMN Staff • June 14, 2017 
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated thelaw in its fast-tracked approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), a U.S.District Court Judge in Washington D.C. has ruled. Judge JamesBoasberg said the Corps did not consider key components of the NationalEnvironmental Policy Act (NEPA) in granting the Lake Oahe
easement under the Missouri Riverwhen directed to do so by President Donald Trump shortly after his swearing-in.
 
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, with the Cheyenne River Sioux asinterveners, had challenged the approval on the grounds that adequateenvironmental study had not been conducted. Boasberg agreed on many points,though he did not rule on whether the pipeline should remain operational. Ithas been carryingoil since June 1.
“Although the Corps substantially complied with NEPA in manyareas, the Court agrees that it did not adequatelyconsider the impacts of an oil spill on fishing rights, hunting rights, orenvironmental justice, or the degree to which the pipeline’s effects are likelyto be highly controversial,” Boasberg said in his 91-page decision. “To remedythose violations, the Corps will have to reconsider those sections of itsenvironmental analysis upon remand by the Court. Whether Dakota Access mustcease pipeline operations during that remand presents a separate question ofthe appropriate remedy, which will be the subject of further briefing.”
 
A status conference will be held next week, according to theenvironmental law firm EarthJustice, which is representing the tribes in thiscase. Energy Transfer Partners, the pipeline’s builders, did not respond torequests for comment by press time.
“This is a major victory for the Tribe and we commend the courtsfor upholding the law and doing the right thing,” said Standing Rock SiouxChairman Dave Archambault II in a statement. “The previous administrationpainstakingly considered the impacts of this pipeline and President Trumphastily dismissed these careful environmental considerations in favor ofpolitical and personal interests. We applaud the courts for protecting our lawsand regulations from undue political influence, and will ask the Court to shutdown pipeline operations immediately. ”
The fight over the 1,172-mile-long pipeline that runs hotlycontested through four states has been the source of controversy since it wasfirst proposed. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe became the flashpoint for theissue when thousands of water protectors and hundreds of tribes gathered atcamps along the Missouri River over the summerof 2016. They were protesting the routing of the pipeline through treatylands—especially in light of the fact that it had been rerouted from moreaffluent Bismarck for the same reason the tribe didn’t want it nearby, becauseof the danger to drinking water—in a conflictthat involved a militarized police force.
 
“This decision marks an important turning point. Untilnow, the rights of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe have been disregarded by thebuilders of the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Trump Administration—prompting awell-deserved global outcry,” said Earthjustice attorney JanHasselman in a statement. “The federal courts have stepped in where ourpolitical systems have failed to protect the rights of Native communities.”
 
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{original article at this website.  You can subscribe to this daily Indian news.}  Karen Bueno
 
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