US court orders shutdown of Energy Transfer’s Dakota Access pipeline

A federal judge at the US District Court for the District of Columbia has ruled that the Energy Transfer-owned Dakota Access pipeline should be shut down.

The court ordered that the pipeline’s oil has to be emptied by 5 August this year.

The Dakota Access pipeline is a crude oil pipeline that has been in operation since 2017.

The court has made the US Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to grant approval to the pipeline to be constructed beneath Lake Oahe in South Dakota as invalid, Reuters reported.

According to the court, the Corps failed to produce an environmental impact statement (EIS), despite conditions that triggered such a requirement for granting the approval.

Commenting on the court ruling, Energy Transfer stated: “The economic implications of the Judge’s order are too big to ignore and we will do all we can to ensure its continued operation.

“The Dakota Access Pipeline is the only direct pipeline from North Dakota to the distribution hub in Patoka, Illinois, from where this domestically produced Bakken-produced crude oil is transported to refineries throughout the Midwest and the Gulf Coast.

“Billions of dollars in tax and royalty revenue will be lost by state, local and tribal governments in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois. Farmers will suffer as crude transportation will move to rail, displacing corn, wheat and soy crops that would normally be moved to market.”

In January 2016, the North Dakota Public Service Commission (PSC) in the US approved the Dakota Access Pipeline that will connect the Bakken and Three Forks production areas in North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois.