While developers of the Dakota Access pipeline went to federal court this week to block a tougher federal environmental review, the review is underway.
The Dakota Access Pipeline company went to a D.C. federal judge on Monday asking to have the review delayed until there is a court ruling on the company’s claim it already had received original permission from the Army Corps of Engineers to complete construction.
At the heart of the battle is finishing the pipeline under Lake Oahe in North Dakota. A notice was published in the Federal Register and initiated the environmental impact statement. But if emergency orders are granted by Judge James E. Boasberg in Washington, D.C., President-elect Donald Trump could take action to revive the controversial project.
“We cannot have the construction of pipeline resume after Trump is sworn in,” stated the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
The work under the lake has been on hold since last September when the Obama administration intervened.