Judge James Boasberg in the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Army Corps did not adequately consider the impact of a possible oil spill on the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s fishing and hunting rights.
In his 91-page decision, Boasberg wrote that although the Army Corps complied with the National Environmental Policy Act substantially, federal permits granted for the pipeline violated the law in some aspects.
Boasberg said: "To remedy those violations, the Corps will have to reconsider those sections of its environmental analysis upon remand by the Court.”
The judge ordered that as of now operations of the pipeline owned by Energy Transfer Partners have not been suspended but at a later date, could be asked to shut down.
Earlier, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe through the nonprofit environmental law organization Earthjustice had sued the US Army Corps of Engineers following its final permits to the Dakota Access Pipeline which is also known as the Bakken Oil Pipeline.
Earthjustice attorney Jan Hasselman said: “This decision marks an important turning point. Until now, the rights of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe have been disregarded by the builders of the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Trump administration—prompting a well-deserved global outcry.
“The federal courts have stepped in where our political systems have failed to protect the rights of Native communities.”
Built for transporting oil from the Bakken fields in North Dakota to southern Illinois, the 1,172 mile long pipeline began delivery of crude oil between the two states in May. It can transport about 470,000 barrels of oil per day, and has a capacity up to 570,000 barrels.
However, it has been engulfed in controversy with the local tribe protesting that the Bakken Oil Pipeline could contaminate their drinking water supply from the Missouri River.
Image: The Dakota Access Pipeline during its construction in central Iowa. Photo: courtesy of Carl Wycoff from Nevada, USA/Wikipedia.
