Chair Grijalva Statement on New Ruling That Army Corps of Engineers Must Conduct Substantive Environmental Review of Dakota Access Pipeline

Washington, D.C. – Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) released the following statement on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia’s new ruling that the Army Corps of Engineers must conduct a substantive environmental review of the Dakota Access pipeline. Judge James Boasberg found that the agency’s previous review had several glaring shortcomings, including a failure to consider the fact that the pipeline’s leak detection system was unlikely to work, that it was not designed to catch slow spills, that the operator’s serious history of incidents had not been taken into account, and that the worst-case spill scenario used by the Corps was potentially only a fraction of what a realistic figure would be.

“Industry needs to learn that if you throw in with the Trump administration, you will bear the costs of its reckless incompetence. As it turns out, critics of this pipeline and projects like it are right when they say the law requires the administration to take the concerns of tribes and other impacted communities seriously. When they don’t, the courts will hold them accountable. The Dakota Access pipeline needs to be shut down now and restarted only if it can operate consistent with the legal rights of the people who are impacted.”

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