Company asks judge to stop Obama’s ‘political interference’ in delaying Dakota Access pipeline.
The Dakota Access pipeline company asked a federal court Tuesday to override the Obama administration’s latest delay on the hotly contested project as thousands of foes took part in a national day of protest.
Energy Transfer Partners, which had already been granted the permit before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers withdrew it in September, filed a motion calling for the court to confirm the company’s right to complete the $3.8 billion project.
The Dallas-based company also asked the court to provide declaratory relief in order “to end the administration’s political interference in the Dakota Access Pipeline review process.”
“Dakota Access Pipeline has waited long enough to complete this pipeline. Dakota Access Pipeline has been granted every permit, approval, certificate, and right-of-way needed for the pipeline’s construction. It is time for the Courts to end this political interference and remove whatever legal cloud that may exist over the right-of-way beneath federal land at Lake Oahe,” said Kelcy Warren, CEO of Energy Transfer Partners.
The two filings came after the corps announced Monday that “additional discussion with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and analysis are warranted” about the four-state, 1,172-mile project, which comes within a half-mile of the reservation in North Dakota.
Meanwhile, trial chairman David Archambault II called on President Obama to deny the easement over concerns about water quality and historic tribal relics.
“Dakota Access is so desperate to get this project in the ground that it is now suing the federal government on the novel theory that it doesn’t need an easement to cross federal lands,” Mr. Archambault said in a statement. “They are wrong and the lawsuit will not succeed. We are looking forward to discussing the easement with the Administration and explaining why it must be denied.”