What's next for pipelines?
BISMARCK, N.D. — President Donald Trump’s executive actions on the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines are aimed at turning the much-protested pipelines into reality. Here’s a look at what may be next for the two pipelines:
WHERE THEY STAND
The $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline to carry North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois is nearly complete other than a stretch underneath Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir in southern North Dakota.
Construction is stalled amid a court fight between developer Energy Transfer Partners and the Army Corps of Engineers over permission for the pipeline to cross under the lake amid objections from the Standing Rock Sioux, which gets its drinking water from the lake.
The $8 billion Keystone XL project was to bring oil from Canada’s oil sands to Nebraska, where it would join other lines already leading to refineries along the Gulf Coast.
Former President Barack Obama halted it in late 2015, declaring it would undercut U.S. efforts to clinch a global climate change deal that was a centerpiece of his environmental agenda.
WHAT ORDER MEANS
Trump’s move on Dakota Access didn’t immediately clear the way for construction to resume, but it did order the Corps to quickly consider whether to approve the lake crossing.
Tribal attorney Jan Hasselman said what happens next will depend on how the Corps interprets the language. He said the tribe will fight in court any reversal of the Corps’ recent decision to do a full environmental study of the crossing — a process that could take up to two years.
Not completing a study “would be a gross violation of the tribe’s treaty rights,” he said.
Trump’s nominee for Army secretary hasn’t yet been confirmed. But U.S. Rep. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican who has advised Trump on energy issues, said he doesn’t think that needs to happen for the Army to consider Trump’s message.
On Keystone XL, Trump invited TransCanada to reapply to the State Department for a presidential permit to build and operate the pipeline. State Department approval is needed because the pipeline would cross the northern U.S. border.
Trump directed the State Department and other agencies to make a decision within 60 days of a final application and declared that a 2014 State Department environmental study satisfies required reviews under environmental and endangered species laws. Environmental groups promised a legal challenge, arguing a new application requires a new review.
FUTURE PROTESTS?
Opposition to Dakota Access resulted in hundreds and sometimes thousands of people camping on federal land along the pipeline route in North Dakota. The area since August has been the site of numerous, sometimes violent clashes.
The camp has dwindled to fewer than 300 people after the Tribal Council recently told protesters to leave due to harsh winter weather. Trump’s action could reignite protests.
