The
Army said it would look for alternative routes for the $3.7 billion
Dakota Access pipeline. Construction of the route a half-mile from the
Standing Rock Sioux reservation has become a global flash point for
environmental and indigenous activism, drawing thousands of people out
here to a sprawling prairie camp of tents, tepees and yurts.
“The
best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to
explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing,” Jo-Ellen Darcy, the
Army’s assistant secretary for civil works, said in a statement. The
move could presage a lengthy environmental review that has the potential
to block the pipeline’s construction for months or years.
But
it was unclear how durable the government’s decision would be. Sunday’s
announcement came in the dwindling days of the Obama administration,
which revealed in November that the Army Corps of Engineers was considering an alternative route. The Corps of Engineers is part of the Department of the Army.
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President-elect
Donald J. Trump, however, has taken a different view of the project and
said as recently as last week that he supported finishing the
1,170-mile pipeline, which crosses four states and is almost complete.
Though
the Army’s decision calls for an environmental study of alternative
routes, the Trump administration could ultimately decide to allow the
original, contested route. Representatives for Mr. Trump’s transition
team did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Mr.
Trump owns stock in the company building the pipeline, Energy Transfer
Partners, but he has said that his support has nothing to do with his
investment.
There
was no immediate response from Energy Transfer Partners, but its chief
executive, Kelcy Warren, has said that the company was unwilling to
reroute the pipeline, which is intended to transport as much as 550,000
barrels of oil a day from the oil fields of western North Dakota to a
terminal in Illinois.
Reaction
was swift on both sides, with environmental groups like Greenpeace
praising the decision. “The water protectors have done it,” a Greenpeace
spokeswoman, Lilian Molina, said. “This is a monumental victory in the
fight to protect indigenous rights and sovereignty.”
But
Craig Stevens, a spokesman for the MAIN Coalition, a pro-infrastructure
group, condemned the move as “a purely political decision that flies in
the face of common sense and the rule of law.”
“Unfortunately,
it’s not surprising that the president would, again, use executive fiat
in an attempt to enhance his legacy among the extreme left,” Mr.
Stevens said in a statement. “With President-elect Trump set to take
office in 47 days, we are hopeful that this is not the final word on the
Dakota Access Pipeline.”
Representative
Kevin Cramer, Republican of North Dakota and a Trump supporter, called
Sunday’s decision a “chilling signal to others who want to build
infrastructure in this country.”
“I can’t wait for the adults to be in charge on Jan. 20,” Mr. Cramer said, referring to Mr. Trump’s inauguration.
Map
The Conflicts Along 1,172 Miles of the Dakota Access Pipeline
A detailed map showing the Dakota Access Pipeline that
has led to months of clashes near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in
North Dakota.
