This is very welcome news just when the confrontations between protesters and the forces guarding the Access Pipeline project were set to escalate.
Obama administration orders ND pipeline construction to stop
By Devin Henry
The Obama administration said it would not authorize construction on a critical stretch of the Dakota Access pipeline, handing a significant victory to the Indian tribe fighting the project the same day the group lost a court battle.
The administration said construction would halt until it can do more environmental assessments.
The Department of Justice, the Army and the Interior Department jointly announced that construction would pause on the pipeline near North Dakota's Lake Oahe, a major water source on the Missouri River for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
The agencies will now decide whether they need to reconsider permitting decisions for the pipeline under the National Environmental Policy Act.
"The Army will move expeditiously to make this determination, as everyone involved — including the pipeline company and its workers — deserves a clear and timely resolution," the agencies said in a statement. "In the interim, we request that the pipeline company voluntarily pause all construction activity within 20 miles east or west of Lake Oahe."
The Lake Oahe crossing was a major concern for the tribe, which worries about the impact a leak in the pipeline would have on the lake.
The Obama Administration’s actions come just hours after pipeline opponents lost a case in Federal Court asking for more environmental reviews of the project. Now there will be additional reviews despite the court’s ruling.
U.S. Suspends Construction on Part of North Dakota Pipeline
“Today’s news is a stunning development,” said Jan Hasselman, a lawyer with Earthjustice, an environmental legal group that is representing the Standing Rock Sioux. “It vindicates what the tribe has been saying form the beginning: The process was wrong, and the legal standards for projects like these need reform.”
