A federal judge ordered the Dakota Access pipeline closed pending a new environmental review, a victory for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.
In his order Monday, US District Judge James Boasberg wrote that the shutdown should take place within the next 30 days.
Protesters have argued that the controversial pipeline project poses both a cultural and an environmental threat to the land it passes through. Proponents say it is a financial blessing to create jobs and bring money to local economies.
The order to close the pipeline comes after a protracted legal battle.
“It took four long years, but today justice has been done at Standing Rock,” attorney Jan Hasselman, who represents the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, said in a press release. “If the events of 2020 have taught us anything, it is that health and justice must be prioritized from the beginning in any decision-making process if we want to avoid a crisis later. “
President Mike Faith of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe called it a historic day.
“This pipeline should never have been built here. We told them that from the beginning, ”he said in the same press release.
Energy Transfer, the Texas-based company behind the pipeline, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
But the oil company has in the past insisted that the pipeline, which runs below the Missouri River, where the Standing Rock tribe draws water, is safe.
During their construction along the North Dakota and South Dakota border, where the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation is located, protesters from across the country rallied in support of the tribe. The protests led to numerous arrests and were sometimes violent.
Monday’s court decision comes after a March 25 order from the same judge, who said the US Army Corps of Engineers should conduct a full environmental review of the pipeline. At the time, it was unclear whether the order would shut down the pipeline, which has transported oil for three years.
“The Court does not make its decision with contempt for the lives it will affect. It readily acknowledges that, even with the current low demand for oil, closing the pipeline will cause a significant disruption to DAPL, the North Dakota oil industry, and potentially other states. “Boasberg wrote in his order Monday.
Permits for the $ 3.8 billion, 1,172-mile underground pipeline had initially been rejected by the Obama administration. Permits for this were granted in February 2017 under the presidency of Donald Trump, when the Corps of Engineers stated that it had found no significant environmental threats posed by the project.
Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, a Republican, closed the court order shortly after it was released.
“Closing the Dakota Access pipeline would have devastating consequences for North Dakota and the energy security of the United States,” Cramer said in a statement. “This terrible decision should be quickly appealed.”
