July 6, 2020: This morning, a federal judge ordered that the Dakota Access pipeline be shut down and emptied of oil by August 5, 2020. The ruling is a major victory for the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes, who successfully challenged the Trump administration’s approval of the easement for the pipeline crossing of the Missouri River at Lake Oahe. In March, the court ruled that the Trump administration had violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to adequately review the risks of leaks or spills from the pipeline, and ordered the US Army Corps of Engineers to prepare an environmental impact statement. Today’s ruling halts pipeline operation while this environmental review is being conducted, as urged by the Tribes, joined by environmental, landowner, and Indigenous groups. Earthjustice served as lead counsel in the case.
Sierra Club senior attorney Elly Benson submitted an amicus brief urging the court to adopt the remedy it did. The amicus brief was submitted to the court by the Sierra Club, Honor the Earth, Dakota Rural Action, Friends of the Earth, Bold Alliance, Save Our Illinois Land (SOIL), Center for Biological Diversity, and 350.org. It focused on the environmental justice impacts of the pipeline.
Read the official press release here.