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Illegal construction of Dakota Access Pipeline is underway

Jan Hasselman, Earthjustice

2/14/17

Late last week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wrongfully terminated its environmental review of the Dakota Access Pipeline. As a result, construction of the Lake Oahe bore is underway right now.

This is both illegal and morally reprehensible, and we have been challenging that decision in court. Today we filed our strongest arguments.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, represented by Earthjustice, filed a major challenge to the Trump administration’s hasty approval of the controversial Dakota Access crude oil pipeline, a project in which the president and his associates have had close financial ties.

The Trump administration is circumventing the law, wholly disregarding the treaty rights of the Standing Rock Sioux and ignoring the legally required environmental review. It isn't the 1800s anymore—the U.S. government must keep its promises to the Standing Rock Sioux and reject rather than embrace dangerous projects that undercut treaties.

The lawsuit challenges the Corps’ hasty and unexplained departure from its previous decision, and explains how the Corps ignored the Tribe’s treaty rights. It also explains how the Corps violated federal statutes requiring close environmental analysis of significant and controversial agency actions.

Construction is moving considerably faster than the pipeline company’s attorneys originally told the court, but we hope for a final decision to reinstate the environmental review before construction of the pipeline is completed.

On February 8, President Trump claimed that he had not received “a single phone call” opposing this widely criticized pipeline. This was unsurprising, because President Trump’s comments line had been closed until today. Since Trump's statement, over 50,000 Earthjustice supporters have written to the president by email, Twitter and Facebook, joining millions of people raising their voices in opposition to this project.

The members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and their supporters deserve to have their voices heard and their health protected. We will fight as long as it takes to ensure that this happens.

Thank you for your continued support,

Jan Hasselman

Staff Attorney

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