More discussion needed before agency will approve Dakota Access easement

WASHINGTON — More discussion is needed with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will grant an easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline, the agency announced Monday, Nov. 14, in a temporary win for protesters of the four-state pipeline.

The Army Corps invited the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to engage in discussions regarding conditions that could be placed on an easement that would reduce the risk of a spill, increase detection and response to a possible spill and enhance the protection of Lake Oahe and the tribe’s water supplies.

“The Army has determined that additional discussion and analysis are warranted in light of the history of the Great Sioux Nation’s dispossessions of lands, the importance of Lake Oahe to the Tribe, our government-to-government relationship, and the statute governing easements through government property,” the agency said in a news release.

http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/news/region/4159150-corps-more-discussion-needed-agency-will-approve-dakota-access-easement