Less than a week after President Trump announced the U.S. would move ahead with the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been directed to allow completion of the Dakota Access line.
It means those months of protests by Oklahomans and others who joined the encampment in North Dakota might have only delayed things until the Trump administration was created.
North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven announced this week he had discussed the matter with Acting Secretary of the Army Robert Speer. Hoeven says Speer told him he had directed the Army Corps of Engineers to proceed with the “easement needed to complete the Dakota Access Pipeline.”
“This will enable the company to complete the project, which can and will be built with the necessary safety features to protect the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and others downstream,” said Sen. Hoeven.
But the Standing Rock Sioux tribe which opposes the $3.7 billion project maintains the senator’s announcement is premature. The tribal leaders want more environmental review.
Republican congressman Kevin Cramer of North Dakota said he too received word the Corps will grant final approval and that Congressional notification of the decision was imminent. He praised the move and also applauded President Trump, calling him a “man of action,” according to a report by CNN.
Climate activists and the Standing Rock Sioux tribe have spent nearly 9 months protesting the completion of the 1,170-mile line that needs only one mile to be finished. The one mile is under Lake Oahe, a reservoir that is part of the Missouri River.