GAIN Welcomes Corps’ Decision Allowing DAPL Operations to Continue

The U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., today held a status conference with attorneys representing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Dakota Access pipeline, and Native American tribes in which the Corps announced it will allow the Dakota Access pipeline to continue operating while it conducts additional review and consultation of the project. The Corps also mentioned the State of North Dakota and the Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara) who, although they were not represented at the hearing, have sought additional consultation with the Corps and are considered relevant stakeholders.

DAPL has safely transported up to 570,000 barrels per day of crude oil from North Dakota to a hub in Patoka, Illinois, since coming into service in June 2017.

Today’s hearing was originally scheduled for early February, but was bumped per the Army Corps’ request to brief Biden Administration officials.

Below is a statement that can be attributed to me, Craig Stevens, spokesman for the GAIN Coalition:

“We applaud the Army Corps’ commonsense decision to allow the Dakota Access Pipeline to continue operating while the agency completes its work on the EIS. The pipeline was fully permitted by state and federal regulators after several years of review, hundreds of consultations, and more than a year of citing and construction – making it one of the most studied and safest pipelines in the history of the world.”

“DAPL has served as a critical component of our nation’s energy infrastructure network for nearly four years, safely transporting crude oil from the Bakken oilfields of North Dakota to an energy hub in southern Illinois. Its continued operation is essential to the American economy, as well as our energy security and our national security interests.

“We look forward to the completion of the Army Corps’ additional review and are confident the Corps – if allowed to follow the science – will validate previous findings that the Dakota Access pipeline is safe and should be allowed to maintain its operations.”