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Standing Rock Sioux Tribe activists are outraged over the Dakota Access Pipeline, stretching from North to South Dakota, shipping more oil before an environmental impact survey is completed, the Associated Press reported.
The outrage spawns from the expansion of the pipeline ahead of the completion of its evaluation in a study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Now, 750,000 barrels of oil can pass through the line daily in the expansion transporting 180,000 more barrels than before, Energy Transfer executives said this week. The study will lead to whether a permit is reissued by the Corps to allow the line to cross the Missouri River after the permit was taken away following U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordering the Corps' study.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is against the line and are worried over oil spilling into the Missouri River. Their reservation is located near where the line passes under the river and across North and South Dakota's border.
"This is a pipeline that does not have federal permits across the Missouri River. It is subject of a federal enforcement action due to multiple safety violations and instead of dialing back, they're pushing even more oil through," said an attorney for the tribe, Jan Hasselman.
For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below.
Opponents of the line say the line's expansion should not have gone into service before the environmental study has been completed.
Energy Transfer executives discussed the expansion during a quarterly earnings call this week. The company is adding pump stations to boost the pipeline's horsepower, and said once the full expansion is up and running, as much as 1.1 million barrels of oil will flow through the pipeline each day.
Hasselman said the purpose of the Corps' review "is to study the impact of things before they occur, not after" and that "this is outrageous," after learning that part of the expansion had gone into service.
The violations were made public this summer after federal pipeline safety agency inspections in 2019. The federal government has proposed a $93,000 penalty. Energy Transfer says it is addressing the problems, which did not end in leaks.
Standing Rock Vice Chairman Ira Taken Alive said the expansion increases "the threat to our health and drinking water supply," and he called on the Biden administration to shut down the pipeline.
Energy Transfer has said the line is safe. The Corps under Biden has allowed the line to continue operating.
