A judge suspended production from the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline oil link over concerns of its environmental impact, which is a major victory for Native American Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, who fought against the operation of the pipeline.
Current ruling demands that the pipeline must be emptied in 30 days, after which a new environmental review will be done.
On a separate matter, the US Supreme Court also halted another pipeline from continued construction. The Keystone XL Pipeline was stopped by judges in alignment with the petition of environmental groups. This pipeline, once finished, will encompass the length from Alberta, Canada to Texas, USA. Judges said a comprehensive review must be conducted before the construction can be continued.
The two projects were supported by President Donald Trump in his 2016 presidential campaign and were notably blocked by Barack Obama, his predecessor.
The Dakota Access Pipeline is a 3.7 billion-dollar pipeline with a length of 1,900 kilometers or 1,200 miles, which was finished in 2017. It can transport around 570,000 crude oil barrels per day traversing four states, starting in North Dakota to an Illinois terminal, from where the oil may be transported to oil refineries.
Energy Transfer owns the pipeline, and the pipeline's supporters say that the project is more efficient and cost-effective, compared to shipping the barrels via train.
According to members of Standing Rock Sioux, as well as others opposed to the project, it will contaminate the drinking water and will damage their sacred burial areas. The pipeline passes north of Standing Rock Sioux's reservation.
According to the ruling by James Boasberg, District Court federal judge, District of Columbia, the pipeline's construction did not meet environmental standards. Thus, it has to have another in-depth environmental review that is more thorough than the one made by the Corps of Engineers of the US Army, before continued work is allowed. According to the Financial Times, this will take 13 months.
The ruling said that it was forced to close down Dakota Access due to several reasons: the severe error of the National Environmental Policy Act of the Corps; the need for more than a simple rectification; the potential damage caused by operating the pipeline; and the continued operation despite the awareness by Dakota Access of the economic risk.
The court said that inadequate consideration was made regarding the impact of oil spills on hunting and fishing rights as well as environmental justice.
Transfer Energy is now forced to comply with an expensive shutdown for more than a year, during which a comprehensive environmental impact assessment will be made.
The court's decision came only days after a similar project was also canceled, namely the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which will run between North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. Its developers concluded that ongoing litigation and legal delays caused it to be uneconomical. Both projects are the so-called new frontline in the USA between economics and the environment.
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Mike Faith said the pipeline should never have been built, saying that the tribe was already opposing it since the beginning. Meanwhile, Energy Transfer spokeswoman Lisa Coleman said the ruling was not supported by law. She added that the pipeline has been operating safely for over three years.
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