Federal Judge Sides with Oil: Will Not Stop Construction of DAPL

by Levi Rickert / Native News Online

Breaking News, Published February 13, 2017, WASHINGTON – Options are running out for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe as U.S. District Judge James Boasberg on Monday, February 13, 2017 denied a request by both tribes to seeking to stop construction of the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL).

The judge ruled against the tribes who argued the construction of the DAPL would prevent them from practicing religious ceremonies at Lake Oahe which the tribes maintain is sacred ground to their tribes.

Last Tuesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers granted a final easement to Energy Transfer Partners LP. This decision was a reversal by the Corps who on December 5, 2016 said it would not grant an easement under Lake Oahe. In his early days of his presidency, President Trump signed an presidential memorandum that instructed the U.S. Army to remove blocking of the construction of the DAPL.

The tribes are seeking an injunction ordering the Corps to withdraw the easement. A hearing is set for February 27, 2017 in Washington, D.C.