Trump orders go on DAPL EIS

SUBHEAD: Army directs Army Corps to expedite Environmental Impact Statement on Dakota Access Pipeline. 

By Phil MCKenna on 3 February 2017 for Insode Climate News -
(https://insideclimatenews.org/news/02022017/dakota-access-pipeline-donald-trump-army-corps)


Image above: Standing Rock Water Protectors have vowed to continue fighting the Dakota Access pipeline.Photo by Jim Watson.

The acting secretary of the Army instructed the Army Corps of Engineers Wednesday to fully comply with a memorandum issued by President Trump that called for expediting the review and approval of the Dakota Access oil pipeline.

The directive did not, however, despite reports to the contrary, grant a final permit, or easement, for the portion of pipeline that would run near the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe reservation. That spot became a hotbed of protest last year when thousands of Native Americans and others, who call themselves water protectors, set up camp there.

In the final weeks of the Obama administration, the Army Corps announced it would not allow the pipeline to be drilled under the Missouri River a half-mile upstream of Standing Rock. Instead, it said it would conduct an environmental impact statement, a thorough review that could take a year or more to complete and would consider alternate routes for that crossing.

The review has begun, but it's now unclear whether the environmental impact statement will continue.

Trump's memorandum, issued Jan. 24, ordered the Army Corps to "review and approve in an expedited manner" any easements for the Dakota Access. It ordered the agency to consider rescinding the environmental impact statement.

The tribe says it will sue to ensure that process goes ahead as ordered, but it is unclear what, if any, legal leverage the tribe would have if the Army Corp abandons the review.

"The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe will vigorously pursue legal action to ensure the environmental impact statement order issued late last year is followed so the pipeline process is legal, fair and accurate," the tribe said in a statement.;
"To abandon the EIS would amount to a wholly unexplained and arbitrary change based on the President's personal views and, potentially, personal investments."
Trump owned stock in Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the pipeline. A spokesperson for the president has said he sold it all last summer.

The 1,200-mile pipeline would run from the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota to Illinois and is more than 90 percent complete. The Missouri River crossing is the final easement needed to finish the pipeline.

A statement issued by Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) on Tuesday stated incorrectly that the Department of Defense was granting the final easement, setting off a wave of confusion and concern among pipeline opponents. "I have received word the Department of Defense is granting the easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline and Congressional notification is imminent," Cramer said. The Army Corps of Engineers is part of the Department of Defense.

A notice filed Wednesday in federal court on behalf of the Army Corps said the easement has not been granted.

"Issuance of the January 31st Memorandum does not mean that a final decision on the application for an easement to construct the Dakota Access pipeline under Corps-managed Federal land at Lake Oahe has been made," the filing said. "The Army will make any decisions once a full review and analysis is completed in accordance with the Presidential Memorandum."

Cramer did not respond to a request for clarification.

Sens. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Tom Udall (D-N.M.) sent a letter to the Trump Administration on Wednesday objecting to the presidential memorandum.

"By 'expediting' this process and proceeding without appropriate consultation, the United States would be turning its back on its most solemn trust responsibility to the Tribe," the senators wrote.
Jan Hasselman, an attorney with environmental law firm EarthJustice who is representing the tribe, said he would fight any easement granted before the environmental assessment is completed.

"We continue to make our case that the easement can't be issued without the EIS process and, if the Army Corps issues the easement anyways, then we take it to federal court," he said.

Protesters set up a new camp on Wednesday, which law enforcement officials say is on private property and 76 people were arrested.

Those arrested, which included former Congressional candidate and Standing Rock Sioux tribe member Chase Iron Eyes, bring the total number of arrests to nearly 700 since demonstrations first escalated last summer.

The Standing Rock tribe is planning a march on Washington on March 10.

See also:
Ea O Ka Aina: Water Protectors pipeline resistance 2/1/17 
Ea O Ka Aina: Force a full EIS on DAPL 1/27/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Missile launcher at Standing Rock 1/19/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Lockdown at Trans-Pecos Pipeline 1/10/17
Ea O Ka Aina: Standing Rock has changed us 12/9/16
Ea O Ka Aina: As Standing Rock celebrates... 12/5/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Army Corps denies easement 12/4/16
Ea O Ka Aina: My Whole Heart is With You 12/2/16
Ea O Ka Aina: The Loving Containment of Courage 12/1/16
Ea O Ka Aina: The Beginning is Near 12/1/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Feds to shutdown NoDAPL Camp 11/25/16
Ea O Ka Aina: NoDAPL people are going to die 11/23/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Hundreds of vets to join NoDAPL 11/22/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Obama must support Standing Rock 11/21/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Trump's pro oil stance vs NoDaPL 11/15/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Kauai NoDAPL Demonstration 11/12/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Obama to Betray Standing Rock 11/12/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Trump impact on Standing Rock 11/12/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Ann Wright on Standing Rock 11/8/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Turning Point at Standing Rock 11/6/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Jackson Browne vs DAPL owner 11/5/16
Democracy Now: Boycott of DAPL Owner's Music Festival
Ea O Ka Aina: World responds to NoDAPL protests 11/5/16
Ea O Ka Aina: NoDAPL victory that was missed 11/5/16
Ea O Ka Aina: DAPL hid discovery of Sioux artifacts 11/5/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Dakota Access Pipeline will leak 11/5/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Route of the Dakota Access Pipeline 11/4/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Sanders calls for stopping DAPL 11/4/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Obama hints at DAPL rerouting 11/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: New military attack on NODAPL 11/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: How to Support NoDAPL 11/3/16
Unicorn Riot: Tweets from NoDAPL 11/2/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Standing Rock & the Ballot Box 10/31/16
Ea O Ka Aina: NoDAPL reclaim new frontline 10/24/16
Ea O Ka Aina: How far will North Dakota go? 10/23/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Amy Goodman "riot" charge dropped 10/17/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Amy Goodwin to face "Riot Charge" 10/16/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Shutdown of all tar sand pipelines 10/11/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Why Standing Rock is test for Oabama 10/8/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Why we are Singing for Water 10/8/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Labor's Dakota Access Pipeline Crisis 10/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Standing Firm for Standing Rock 10/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Contact bankers behind DAPL 9/29/16
Ea O Ka Aina: NoDAPL demo at Enbridge Inc 9/29/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Militarized Police raid NoDAPL 9/28/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Stop funding of Dakota Access Pipeline 9/27/16
Ea O Ka Aina: UN experts to US, "Stop DAPL Now!" 9/27/16
Ea O Ka Aina: No DAPL solidarity grows 9/21/16
Ea O Ka Aina: This is how we should be living 9/16/16
Ea O Ka Aina: 'Natural Capital' replacing 'Nature' 9/14/16
Ea O Ka Aina: The Big Difference at Standing Rock 9/13/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Jill Stein joins Standing Rock Sioux 9/10/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Pipeline temporarily halted 9/6/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Native Americans attacked with dogs 9/5/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Mni Wiconi! Water is Life! 9/3/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Sioux can stop the Pipeline 8/28/16
Ea O Ka Aina: Officials cut water to Sioux 8/23/16
 

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