Judge goes against Standing Rock Tribe, Obama administration steps in

Many of the people gathered outside the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation resisting the Dakota Access Pipeline expressed to the Bismark Tribune their willingness to keep up the fight. That comes after the ruling Friday by U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg’s decision denying the tribe’s request for an injunction halting construction on procedural grounds. The resistance to the pipeline then got a significant boost, however, from the Obama administration.

The departments of Interior, Justice and the U.S. Army (Corps of Engineers) issued a joint statement saying the Army Corps will not authorize any pipeline construction on their land near Lake Oahe in North Dakota. The statement says “important issues raised by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other tribal nations and their members regarding the Dakota Access pipeline specifically, and pipeline-related decision-making generally, remain.” The statement does deal with construction planned elsewhere, but department officials asked Dakota Access, LLP to voluntarily halt construction 20 miles on either side of Lake Oahe. The departmental release goes on to outline a revised process for tribes to weigh in on similar projects:

http://www.nativenews.net/judge-goes-standing-rock-tribe-obama-administration-steps/