The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the Biden administration is not supporting a shutdown of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
The Corps issued a permit for the pipeline during the Trump administration. There has been a legal battle in District of Columbia courts since then.
In a short report filed Monday, the Corps told the D.C. District that it is conducting an environmental study. Until it’s completed, the agency says it has no findings to support a shutdown of the pipeline.
The Corps reports the environmental study won’t be done until March 2022. Until then, it says the question of granting an injunction “now rests in the ‘sound discretion’ of the Court.”
Judge James Boasberg ordered the pipeline shut down last summer, but the D.C. Court of Appeals reversed that order. The appellate court ruled that Judge Boasberg had not made the necessary findings before issuing that injunction.
The appellate court DID find that the Corps’ permit violates the National Environmental Policy Act. And the appellate court sent the case back to Judge Boasberg for further action.