Statement On Reports An Easement For DAPL Will Be Issued

MAIN Coalition spokesman Craig Stevens issued the following statement regarding reports from Capitol Hill that the Acting Secretary of the Army has directed the final easement be issued for the Dakota Access Pipeline:

“After nearly 1,000 days since the beginning of this process, we are hopeful that we may be one step closer to the ultimate completion of the project. We appreciate that President Trump is keeping his word to move lawful, carefully sited energy projects forward. This is a positive development for the pipeline, construction workers across the country, and those who seek to invest in our nation’s infrastructure. It also begins the clock that will mark down the moments until the dedicated local and state law enforcement officers, as well as community members throughout North Dakota, will be able to get back to their normal lives. And finally, e hope that individuals on all sides of this issue will be able to move forward peacefully as this process draws to a close.”

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MAIN Coalition Statement on Dakota Access Status Hearing

MAIN Coalition spokesman Craig Stevens issued the following statement following today’s status conference that was held in light of President Trump’s order directing the Secretary of the Army to move forward with issuing the easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline:

“We appreciate the long, hard hours local and state law enforcement officers have endured in an effort to protect the peace by serving as a buffer between the protesters and the workers.  We hope that soon, President Trump will issue the final easement, construction will be completed, and everyone can go back to their normal lives.”

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Army Corps Memo Shows DAPL Should Have Been Approved in December

With the stroke of a pen, President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies, including the Army Corps of Engineers, to “review and approve in an expedited manner” requests for approval to finish construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. This likely signaled an end to months of protesting. Although opponents of the project vowed to continue their resistance, a recently released document from the Army Corps of Engineers shows that the protests face long odds.

In a December 3, 2016 memo, U.S. Army Corps Col. John Henderson outlined the process by which the Corps determined the environmental impact of the pipeline on Lake Oahe. The memo also lays out the legal arguments supporting its approval and construction, specifically countering several of the protesters’ concerns, including water safety and tribal rights. Henderson concludes by recommending that the easement be granted.

“Corps policy is to grant an easement when it is in the public interest,” wrote Henderson. He further explained that granting the easement would not interfere with the operation of the Corps dam near Lake Oahe and that the proposed pipeline met necessary safety requirements.

According to the memo, construction of the pipeline would in fact improve safety, by shifting oil transportation away from truck and rail.

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Dakota Access Memo Cheers Pipeline Supporters

A pair of agency-directed memos signed Tuesday by President Donald Trump could force completion of the controversial Dakota Access pipeline in North Dakota as well as breathe new life into the Canadian-based Keystone XL pipeline.

Trump’s memo did not grant a drilling easement for the $3.8 billion Dakota Access project to cross U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land on the Missouri River/Lake Oahe but directs the agency to expedite review with the idea that prior reviews already satisfy federal law.

Congressman Kevin Cramer said he believes the memo will force the agency to rescind the decision it made last week to begin a full-blown environmental impact statement on the crossing and issue an easement in short order.

Cramer said he made contact Tuesday with federal law enforcement agencies, including the CIA and the U.S. Marshal service, in anticipation of pushback from hundreds of pipeline protesters camped near the water crossing just north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation when construction resumes.

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Democrats, Republicans United On Dakota Access

North Dakota Senators John Hoeven and Heidi Heitkamp are not letting the latest attempt to derail the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline go unnoticed.

The Obama administration Wednesday threatened to further delay the critical infrastructure project by ordering the Department of the Army to publish a Notice of Intent to require an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in the Federal Register. A move that sidesteps the professionals at the Army Corps of Engineers who have already concluded that the project will result in no significant impacts. In fact, the career civil servants at the Army Corps actually recommended that the easement be approved, but were silenced in the face of politics.

Hoeven, a republican, criticized the move, saying it amounted to changing the rules in the middle of a pre-established process. “The company has complied with all federal and state requirements, and should now be allowed to complete the project,” he said in a statement. “Since the current administration will not issue the final easement, the Trump administration should approve it without delay.”

He added that adjustments to the permitting process could be considered going forward, but should not be applied retroactively to a project that has already received approval. “Pipelines like the Dakota Access Pipeline can be built safely and protect both the tribe and everyone living downstream,” he said. “A new EIS will impose months, and perhaps years, of additional difficulty on the people who live and work in the pipeline area.”

Across the aisle, Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp echoed Hoeven, saying that the administration’s “legally unprecedented” effort would only promote continued division and delay. “Removing decision-making from the U.S. Army Corps District Office and looking at an issue not properly before the Corps does not provide the certainty, or the security North Dakotans need or that the protesters are seeking,” she said.

“Whether you agree with this position or not, President-elect Trump has not minced words about his support for the project, or his intent to take quick action on the issue, and the outgoing Administration knows that this move only stand to further deepen the divides in our state.”

It should not go unnoticed that, even in a state of political polarization, democrats and republicans agree that construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline should be completed without further delay.


Pipeline Supporters Blast Obama, Can’t Wait for Trump

The Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now is blasting the Obama Administration for requesting an Environmental Impact Statement on the Dakota Access Pipeline, which could further slow completion of the project.

Environmental activists and pipeline protesters have been pushing a mailing blitz to demand that the Army Corps of Engineers complete the impact study. A recent tweet indicates that Obama will force the issue.

The MAIN Coalition represents labor, business and ag interests, and has promoted the controversial pipeline project. Spokesperson Craig Stevens, in a statement sent to the Pilot-Tribune, said Obama’s action at the end of his presidency is inappropriate.

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Hoeven: Obama Administration Trying to Delay DAPL Again by Changing the Rules

WASHINGTON — Senator John Hoeven today issued the following statement in response to the Obama administration and Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy’s decision to require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to do an environmental impact statement (EIS) prior to issuing an easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline project:

“The Obama administration is again trying to delay the Dakota Access Pipeline project by changing the rules. The company has complied with all federal and state requirements and should now be allowed to complete the project. Since the current administration will not issue the final easement, the Trump administration should approve it without delay.

 

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MAIN Coalition Statement on Notice of EIS for the Dakota Access Pipeline

MAIN Coalition spokesman Craig Stevens issued the following statement following news that the Obama administration has sent the Federal Register a Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement on the Dakota Access Pipeline:

“Despite the policies of the last few years being soundly rejected by the American people, the Obama Administration is using its final hours to allow detainees out of U.S. protection, burrow democratic operatives deep in the federal bureaucracy, and now delay and block lawful infrastructure projects from completion.

“The Coalition certainly believes that the Trump Administration, the courts, and the public will recognize this latest political stunt for what it is – a flailing attempt for relevance. It’s unfortunate that the outgoing administration would try to hamstring the professionals at the Army Corps of Engineers who worked diligently for years to ensure the Dakota Access Pipeline was sited and constructed in the environmentally and culturally sensitive manner.

“We remain optimistic that the incoming Trump Administration will soon issue the final easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline and also demonstrate a willingness to support American infrastructure projects and the American jobs that go along with them.

“Thankfully for the hard-working men and women across the country desperate for a change, hope is finally on the horizon.  Soon we will have a federal government that works for the people – not one that obstructs growth, entrepreneurship, and ingenuity.”

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FOIA Requests Seek Information Dakota Access Pipeline Decision

The Center for Individual Freedom (CFIF) has sent a number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking information on communications with Jodi Gillette regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline. Gillette, a former advisor to President Obama and the sister of the David Archambault, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, has played a leading role in the misguided efforts to derail the multibillion dollar pipeline project.

In a statement, Timothy Lee, CFIF’s Senior Vice President of Legal and Public Affairs, expressed concern about the lack of transparency and potential conflicts of interests related to the Army Corps’ decision to indefinitely delay a federal easement for the pipeline.

“There have been a lot of rumors about the backroom dealings that led to the Administration’s decision to not issue the final easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline,” Lee said. “We would hope that the self-purported ‘most transparent Administration in history’ would provide the American people with the background and information that went into this important decision to halt an infrastructure project that had already been approved and was more than 90 percent complete.”

The requests, which were sent to the Departments of Interior, Justice and Energy, as well as the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Army Corps of Engineers, outline CFIF’s concerns about improper influence over the Obama administration’s actions:

There is growing concern about the relationship between Dave Archambault II’s sister, Jodi Gillette, and the Obama Administration. Mr. Archambault is the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (SRST) and a critic of the project. Ms. Gillette is a former senior advisor to the President and Secretary of the Interior, and is currently a lobbyist on behalf of the Standing Rock Sioux with Sonosky, Chambers, Chambers, Endreson & Perry, LLP. We seek to ensure that Mr. Archambault and Ms. Gillette haven’t wielded improper influence over the Administration’s policies that have resulted in delays in the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline project.

I request access to and copies of all records since February 1, 2016, related in any way to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and Jodi Gillette. This request includes, but is not limited to, all emails, other correspondence, correspondence logs, records of meetings, records of appointments and visitor logs.

CFIF is currently reviewing other potential FOIA requests on the matter.


Complete the Dakota Access Pipeline

Anyone surprised by Barack Obama’s last-minute decision to pass on the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline hasn’t been paying attention. Going to war, even with foes of fossil fuels, has rarely appealed to the man who prefers to lead from behind. Rather than provoke the wrath of environmentalists so late in the game, Mr. Obama is determined to punt and run out the clock. It will fall to Donald Trump to take on those who forced the president to take a knee. Once he takes office, the new president must not duck.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has balked at issuing a final permit enabling builders of the pipeline to bore beneath North Dakota’s Lake Oahe to finish the $3.8 billion project. The 1,134-mile pipeline, connecting the North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields to storage tanks in Illinois, has triggered protests by members of the Standing Rock Sioux who contend the pipeline would despoil their ancestral homeland and threaten their water supply. Their concerns appear to be exaggerated; the pipeline would pass no closer than to a half-mile of tribal property. Their home “where the buffalo roam” would remain untouched.

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