American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2016 - 37

More Dakota Access Discussion
Is Needed, Army Corps Contends
WASHINGTON-The U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers says it needs more discussions
and analysis to determine whether it should
grant the easement needed to complete
the Dakota Access Pipeline.
On Nov. 14, the Army Corps announced
it was suspending the developers' request
for an easement to finish the section of the
pipeline running underneath federal lands
near Lake Oahe in North Dakota while it
conducted an additional environmental review. According to the agency, the delay is
necessary "in light of the history of the
great Sioux nation's dispossessions of
lands, the importance of Lake Oahe to the
tribe, our government-to-government relationship, and the statute governing easements through government property."
In response, the project's developers-
Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners LP-filed a lawsuit later
that day in U.S. District Court for the
District of Columbia, asking for a court
ruling that they have the legal right of
way to build, complete and operate the
Dakota Access project without further
action from the Corps.
"The declaratory relief Dakota Access
Pipeline has sought seeks to end the administration's political interference in the
Dakota Access Pipeline review process,"
the companies state. "This relief is fully
warranted because the Corps has never
before declined to provide written documentation of granting an easement-a perfunctory ministerial act-to use federally
owned land after granting regulatory permission for work on the same land. Granting the declaratory judgment would restore
normal order to the federal permitting
process, and end the administration's flagrant disregard for the rule of law."
Without identifying any specific problems with its almost three-year review,
the Army Corps has determined that it
needs additional discussions with the
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and that more
analysis is warranted. The agency adds
that while those discussions are ongoing,
construction on or under federal land
bordering Lake Oahe cannot occur.
The agency says it has invited the
tribe to discuss potential conditions for a
pipeline crossing easement that would
reduce risks of spills, hasten spill detection
and response, or otherwise enhance the
lake's protection and the tribe's water
supplies. It adds it will work with the
Standing Rock Sioux on a timeline that
allows for discussion and analysis to be
completed expeditiously.

Rule Of Law
The American Petroleum Institute says
it defies logic that the Obama administration would ignore the rule of law by
unilaterally delaying the pipeline.
"This project went through an established, open and transparent permitting
process where comments from numerous
stakeholders were considered," says API
Midstream Group Director Robin Rorick.
"The administration's actions to further
delay this project with no legal justification
contradict multiple court rulings; set a
dangerous precedent for other infrastructure projects including roads, bridges,
and electricity transmission lines; and ignore calls to uphold the rule of law by
the governors of North Dakota, South
Dakota, and Iowa."
Modernizing the nation's infrastructure
helps move needed energy resources and
saves consumers money, and provides
thousands of well-paying jobs, Rorick
describes.
D.C. District Court Judge James Boasberg ruled in September that the Army
Corps followed federal law in approving
all of the pipeline permits, notes Alan
Olson, executive director of the Montana
Petroleum Association. He says the judge
pointed out that because the majority of
the project sites were on federal lands,
any claims that the pipeline would damage
tribal archaeological sites were unsubstantiated.
In addition to the federal permitting
process, no significant cultural resources
were found along the Dakota Access
route, and to minimize environmental
impacts the Lake Oahe crossing would
be 92 feet below the lake's bottom, Olson
adds.
According to media reports, Energy
Transfer Partners Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer Kelcy Warren says he
expects the company will get the easements
on Jan. 20, immediately following President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.
He points to plans unveiled by Trump in
September to streamline the federal permitting process, including authorizing
billions of dollars in projects held up by
the Obama administration.
The 1,172-mile pipeline is designed
to transport oil from the Bakken and
Three Forks formations of North Dakota
to Illinois. Planning for the project began
in 2014, and the developers say the project
is more than 80 percent finished.
❒
DECEMBER 2016 37

American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2016