Army Corps Ordered to Issue Final Easement for Dakota Access Pipeline, Two Lawmakers Say

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The acting secretary of the Army has ordered the Army Corps of Engineers to issue the final easement for completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline, according to Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) and Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-ND), who issued two separate statements Tuesday night.

The Obama Administration denied the easement in December, ordering the Army Corps to conduct an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and explore alternate routes. However, President Trump’s executive order, signed last week, instructs the Army Corps to “approve in an expedited manner” construction of the pipeline and consider suspending the EIS. Representatives from the Army Corps and the pipeline’s owner, Energy Transfer Partners, could not confirm or deny the order when reached by the Washington Post.

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In a statement Tuesday night, the Standing Rock Sioux said they had not received notice that the easement had been granted, calling the lawmakers’ claims “premature” and challenging the possible suspension of the Army Corps’ environmental impact statement as a “wholly unexplained and arbitrary change based on the president’s personal views and, potentially, personal investments.”

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