{"id":658370,"date":"2026-05-22T11:37:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T11:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/658370\/"},"modified":"2026-05-22T11:37:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T11:37:10","slug":"federal-officials-approve-controversial-segment-of-dakota-access-oil-pipeline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/658370\/","title":{"rendered":"Federal officials approve controversial segment of Dakota Access oil pipeline"},"content":{"rendered":"

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) \u2014 Federal officials on Thursday gave final approval for the Dakota Access oil pipeline to continue operating its contentious Missouri River crossing, an outcome that comes nearly a decade after boisterous protests<\/a> against the project on the North Dakota prairie.<\/p>\n

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers\u2019 decision to grant the key easement means the pipeline will keep operating but with added conditions for detecting leaks and monitoring groundwater, among others. The announcement brings an end to a drawn-out legal and regulatory saga stemming from the protests in 2016 and 2017, though further litigation over the pipeline is likely.<\/p>\n

The $3.8 billion, multistate pipeline has been transporting oil since June 2017 from North Dakota\u2019s Bakken oil field<\/a> to a terminal in Illinois. The line carries about 4% of U.S. daily oil production, or roughly 540,000 barrels per day.<\/p>\n

The Corps is \u201cdecisively putting years of delays to rest and moving out to safely execute this crossing beneath Lake Oahe,\u201d Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle said in a statement. <\/p>\n

The pipeline crosses the river upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe\u2019s reservation, which straddles the Dakotas. The tribe has long opposed the pipeline, fearing a spill and contamination of its water supply. In 2016 and 2017, thousands of people camped and protested for months<\/a> near the river crossing.<\/p>\n

The protests resulted in hundreds of arrests and related criminal cases and lawsuits, some of them still ongoing, including litigation that threatens the future of<\/a> the environmental group Greenpeace.<\/p>\n

The tribe said it will continue to fight in federal court to protect its water, sacred sites and homelands established in treaties with the federal government signed in 1851 and 1868.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Tribe will evaluate all legal and political options to defend our Treaty rights, protect Mni Wiconi – Water of Life, and hold the Federal government and private corporations accountable to the highest standards of environmental stewardship and Tribal consultation,\u201d Standing Rock Sioux Tribe\u2019s Chairman Steve Sitting Bear said in a statement.<\/p>\n

In December, the Corps released its final environmental impact statement nearly six years after a federal judge ordered<\/a> a more rigorous review of the pipeline\u2019s crossing. In that document, the Corps endorsed the option to grant the easement for the crossing and keep the pipeline operating with modifications.<\/p>\n

Those measures include enhanced leak detection and monitoring systems, expanded groundwater and surface water monitoring and third-party expert evaluation of the leak and detection systems, among others, the Corps said. The conditions also include water supply contingency planning and other studies coordinated with affected tribes.<\/p>\n

The Corps had weighed several options, including removing or abandoning the pipeline\u2019s river crossing or even rerouting it north. The agency said its decision \u201cbest balances public safety, protection of environmental resources, and leak detection and response considerations while meeting the project\u2019s purpose and need.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tribe said the environmental impact report addresses neither perceived threats from the pipeline to the tribe\u2019s homelands and drinking water nor concerns about alleged federal law violations by the pipeline or a sufficient spill response plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s decision merely restates past conclusions and represents a pattern of minimizing and rejecting Tribal expertise in sustaining our lands, resources, and cultural properties,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

A Corps official said the decision was \u201cinformed by public input and government-to-government consultation with Tribes.\u201d <\/p>\n

Pipeline developer Energy Transfer hailed the decision, saying the pipeline has been safely operating for nearly 10 years and is critical to the country\u2019s energy infrastructure. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to thank the Corps for the tremendous amount of time and effort put in by so many to bring this matter to a thoughtful close,\u201d said Vicki Granado, a company spokesperson. <\/p>\n

North Dakota Republican Gov. Kelly Armstrong, Interior Secretary and former North Dakota governor Doug Burgum<\/a> and U.S. Senators John Hoeven and Kevin Cramer, both Republicans, welcomed the decision to ensure the pipeline continues operating.<\/p>\n

The Corps\u2019 announcement came as officials and oil industry leaders were gathered for a trade conference in Bismarck.<\/p>\n

Energy Transfer and Enbridge are in early stages of a project to move about 250,000 daily barrels of light Canadian crude oil through the Dakota Access Pipeline by using another pipeline and building a 56-mile connecting line, spokespersons for the companies said. Enbridge will decide sometime in mid-2026 whether to move ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) \u2014 Federal officials on Thursday gave final approval for the Dakota Access oil pipeline to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":658371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[283657,28,1685,283655,5473,192,793,5630,5629,283656,147657,4381,3130,1576,283659,6660,2807,20200,3775,3766,79,283658,795,11141],"class_list":["post-658370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-adam-telle","tag-business","tag-climate-and-environment","tag-dakota-access-pipeline","tag-doug-burgum","tag-environment","tag-general-news","tag-il-state-wire","tag-illinois","tag-kelly-armstrong","tag-kevin-cramer","tag-law-enforcement","tag-lawsuits","tag-military-and-defense","tag-missouri-river","tag-nd-state-wire","tag-north-dakota","tag-pollution","tag-protests-and-demonstrations","tag-race-and-ethnicity","tag-science","tag-steve-sitting-bear","tag-u-s-news","tag-water-quality"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}