The Dakota Access oil pipeline is getting the go-ahead just two weeks after President Trump directed the Army Corps of Engineers to expedite approval of the project after the Obama administration had halted it.
The Army Corps of Engineers issued a notice of intent Tuesday stating that it will be approving a key easement for the project as soon as Tuesday evening.
The $3.8 billion pipeline has been hung up for months while it awaited final approval of an easement for a small section of the pipeline to be completed in North Dakota.
The project has been the subject of significant controversy and a standoff between the company building the pipeline and activists and American Indian tribes opposing it for fear it will pollute the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s only source of drinking water. Environmentalists don’t want it built as part of their “keep it in the ground” campaign against the use of fossil fuels.
The Dakota Access pipeline will be nearly 1,100 miles long and connect the oil-rich fracking fields of North Dakota with refiners in Illinois.
“We’re pleased that the Trump administration has followed the counsel of the Army Corps of Engineers and the letter of law by indicating its intention to issue the final easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline,” said Craig Stevens, spokesman for the Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now, a leading group of proponents for the pipeline.
“This action is proof-positive of President Trump’s commitment to supporting domestic energy development, including midstream infrastructure projects,” Stevens said. “Today’s action sends a strong positive signal to those individuals and companies seeking to invest in the U.S. and will help strengthen our economy and create jobs.”
