Federal judge could force completion of Dakota Access pipeline

A federal judge could force the Dakota Access oil pipeline to be completed after last week’s decision by the Obama administration to halt the project near an Indian reservation by refusing to grant it a key easement.

The District Court for the District of Columbia’s Judge James Boasberg started the court’s review Friday by setting a briefing schedule that will hear from the company building the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, and its claim that the Army Corps of Engineers should have granted the easement in the summer under federal rules.