Court to allow Dakota Access pipeline to continue operations during appeal

A federal appeals court ruled Aug. 5 that the US Army Corps of Engineers can allow the Dakota Access crude oil pipeline to continue operating while the court considers arguments over an easement that allows the line to pass under the Missouri River in North Dakota.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said a district court had failed to follow proper procedure when it decided July 6 that the pipeline, in operation for 3 years, must be shut down while an environmental impact statement is prepared (OGJ Online, July 6, 2020).

The appellate court stayed the shutdown order but did not grant a stay of the accompanying decision that vacated the easement granted by the Corps of Engineers under the Mineral Leasing Act. That vacatur will be argued on appeal.

The appellate court gave appellants until Aug. 26 to file briefs seeking to overturn the district court decision. Appellees will have until Sept. 16 to file a brief defending the decision. The case is Standing Rock Sioux Tribe v. US Army Corps of Engineers.

Energy Transfer LP operates the line through its unit Dakota Access LLC. The line carries 570,000 b/d of crude oil more than 1,000 miles from North Dakota to a pipeline hub at Patoka, Ill. Connections there take the oil as far as the Gulf Coast.

“The failure to uphold the easement granted years ago by the federal government exemplifies the problems with our outdated permitting system, which allows protracted challenges to advance within the courts,” said Paul Afonso, senior vice-president and chief legal officer at the American Petroleum Institute, in a statement welcoming the stay.