The Army Corps of Engineers will approve the easement needed to finish the Dakota Access Pipeline within a day, according to the Hill. The news came just two weeks after President Trump wrote a letter to the federal agency asking it to approve the pipeline as soon as possible.
U.S. could grant final permit for Dakota pipeline as soon as Friday: govt lawyer https://t.co/IUxNVdEWzW pic.twitter.com/xP7x6lmyYN
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) February 7, 2017
The Army Corps also informed the court that it would bypass an intensive environmental impact statement on the pipeline, which would have further delayed the project for a year or more.
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has said the pipeline will endanger its water supply and protested the pipeline for months. It's likely that they will challenge the court's ruling.
The crossing runs under Lake Oahe and is the final major piece of work remaining in the $3.8 billion pipeline. The lake is key to the tribe's water supply. A "significant" leak from a pipeline 200 miles from Standing Rock forced a shutdown in December. But Energy Transfer Partners, the pipe's developer, insists DAPL is safe.
#StandingRockSioux seek to clean up #DAPL protest sites before spring floodwaters wash debris into river. https://t.co/B4TT5EQo4a pic.twitter.com/frdT0pSCVH
— AP Central U.S. (@APCentralRegion) January 31, 2017
Outside of the pipeline itself, much work remains to be done to clean up old protest sites.
The protest camp's population has been reduced to fewer than 300 people due to frigid North Dakota winters and a plea by Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault to disband the protests before spring's flooding season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
