Judge says Dakota Access Pipeline permits should be reconsidered; tribe wants oil flow stopped

Voice of America map

A federal judge has ruled that permits for the Dakota Access Pipeline should be reconsidered, and a Native American tribe has asked him to stop the flow of oil through the pipeline, a request he will consider Wednesday.

District Judge James Boasberg of Washington, D.C., ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers "did not fully consider the pipeline's impact on the hunting, fishing and environmental-justice rights of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe," report Valerie Volcovici and Ernest Scheyder of Reuters. "Legal experts on Thursday said Boasberg has quite a bit of leeway with his decision, depending on what he deems are the environmental impacts of allowing oil to keep flowing."

The line "began service at the beginning of the month, with commitments to ship 520,000 barrels of crude a day from North Dakota's Bakken region," Reuters reports. "The line was delayed during months of protests on federal land in North Dakota and as a legal battle played out in Washington. Two of the tribe's earlier arguments had been rejected by the same judge. The 1,170-mile (1,880 km) line had been a long-desired project for Bakken producers, but met heavy resistance from the tribes over concerns about water supply and sacred lands." The pipeline runs under the Missouri River next to the Standing Rock Reservation at Cannon Ball, N.D.