Oil to keep flowing in Dakota line while legal battle continues

Source: Reuters

ENVIRONMENT | Wed Jun 21, 2017 | 5:46pm EDT

Oil to keep flowing in Dakota line while legal battle continues

Oil will continue to flow through the Dakota Access Pipeline through the summer while authorities conduct additional review of the environmental impact, after a judge on Wednesday ordered more hearings in coming months.

Last week, U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg in Washington ruled in favor of Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes, who said more environmental analysis of the Dakota Access line should have been carried out. The tribes had said the 1,170-mile (1,880 km) line violates their hunting, fishing and environmental rights.

On Wednesday, Boasberg set out a schedule of hearings that will decide what will happen to the line while additional review is completed.

A lawyer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is responsible for environmental review, would not estimate when asked by Boasberg how long additional review would take. The judge could still order the line to be shut at a later date following a series of hearings scheduled through the summer.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-north-dakota-pipeline-idUSKBN19C2ZO