ACE ordered to issue final Dakota Access easement, Hoeven says

Story updated Feb. 2 with statement from US Army Public Affairs Chief Maj. Gen. Malcolm Frost.

Acting US Army Sec. Robert Speer has directed the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) to issue the final easement for the Dakota Access crude oil pipeline, US Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) said on Jan. 31. He learned of this during a meeting earlier in the day with Speer and Vice-President Mike Pence, the senator indicated.

President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order a week earlier aimed at reviving the project after the US Departments of Justice and the Interior, along with ACE, halted the project in December when protests against it by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and others grew (OGJ Online, Jan. 24, 2017).

US Army Public Affairs Chief Maj. Gen. Malcolm Frost said in a Feb. 1 statement that the Army has initiated the steps outlined in the president’s Jan. 24 executive order that directed the acting Army secretary to expeditiously review requests for approvals to construct and operate the Dakota Access Pipeline in compliance with the law.

“These initial steps do not mean the easement has been approved,” Frost pointed out. “The assistant secretary for the Army Civil Works will make a decision on the pipeline once a full review and analysis is completed in accordance with the directive."

Hoeven said that receiving the easement to build beneath Lake Oahe will enable Energy Transfer Partners, the project’s sponsor, to complete the 1,172-mile, 30-in. diameter pipeline from the Bakken-Three Forks production area in North Dakota to Patoka, Ill. “Building new energy infrastructure with the latest safeguards and technology is the safest and most environmentally sound way to move energy from where it is produced to where people need it,” he said.

The rest of North Dakota’s congressional delegation welcomed the news. “It’s time to get to work and finish this important piece of energy infrastructure enhancing America’s energy security and putting North Dakotans and Americans back to work,” US Rep. Kevin Cramer (R) said on Jan. 31.

“Now that the Acting Secretary has directed [ACE] to issue an easement to complete the project, we know construction will move forward—though we are waiting on more information in regards to a timeline for when construction can begin,” Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D) noted on the same day. “We also know that with tensions high, our families, workers, and tribal communities deserve the protective resources they need to stay safe.”

Hoeven said that he and his staff also are working with ACE, DOI, DOJ, and the Department of Homeland Security to secure more federal law enforcement resources to assist local authorities. “On Sunday, 20 additional Bureau of Indian Affairs law enforcement officers arrived at Standing Rock. Also, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council has asked the protesters to leave the campsite on Corps land,” he said.

“This has been a difficult issue for all involved, particularly those who live and work in the area of the protest site, and we need to bring it to a peaceful resolution,” Hoeven maintained.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].