A federal District Court judge has ruled that the Dakota Access pipeline must shut down by August 5th and cannot reopen until a required environmental assessment is completed, according to the decision posted on BloombergLaw.
Two Sioux tribes sued the US Army Corps of Engineers and the pipeline’s operator, Dakota Access LLC (a subsidiary of Energy Transfer LP), stating that the pipeline would adversely impact water supplies and other natural resources on its tribal lands.
Judge James E. Boasberg’s decision delays operation of the pipeline until at least 2021, reversing an easement in federal environmental reviews granted by the Army Corps of Engineers.
This is the second blow to Trump energy policy in two days: yesterday, Dominion Energy Inc. and Duke Energy Corp. opted to stop a legal fight for another project, the Atlantic Coast natural gas pipeline, after years of legal delays.