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According to an article at Snopes.com:
The Army Corps of Engineers has denied the easement needed to complete the Dakota Access Pipeline, according Colonel Henderson, who notified Veterans for Standing Rock co-organizer Michael A. Wood Jr on 4 December 2016.
More than 3,000 veterans had converged at the Standing Rock camp to support the Sioux in their ongoing opposition to the building of a $3.7 billion pipeline that would cross through disputed land managed by the Army Corps of Engineers. Wood said upon learning of the move, "This is history."
From a report in Al Jazeera :
The US Army Corps of Engineers has turned down a permit for a controversial pipeline project running through North Dakota, in a victory for Native Americans and climate activists who have protested against the project for several months, according to a statement released.
The 1,885km Dakota Access Pipeline, owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP, had been complete except for a segment planned to run under Lake Oahe, a reservoir formed by a dam on the Missouri River.
"The Army will not grant an easement to cross Lake Oahe at the proposed location based on the current record," a statement from the US Army said.
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe, along with climate activists, have been protesting the $3.8bn project, saying it could contaminate the water supply and damage sacred tribal lands.
[...] "Today, the US Army Corps of Engineers announced that it will not be granting the easement to cross Lake Oahe for the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline," said Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault II, in a statement.
"Instead, the Corps will be undertaking an environmental impact statement to look at possible alternative routes."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 05 2016, @07:38PM
the pipe is fine with most environmentalists.
The location of the pipe and where the crude goes when it leaks--is not. This is under a lake, along and under a river -- if it leaks under or along either of those things, the mess is much worse than if it just foiled the compacted soil around itself. It will ruin water supplies.
Some people are against nearly everything, this is not that.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 05 2016, @07:53PM
What's puzzling to me is that the current proposed crossing is where the river/lake is ~1/2 mile wide (800 meters?) Not too far north of this, and still south of Bismarck, the river is a few hundred feet wide (100 meters).
So why did Dakota Access Pipeline choose this option that called for much more expensive boring under the wide spot in the river?
Are there actual geological or other reasons, or did it just look like it might be easier to get the Indians to give them a Right of Way, instead of other land owners?