WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th July, 2020) A US Federal judge has rejected a request for an emergency order to delay the process for shutting down the Dakota Access Pipeline, a court filing revealed on Tuesday.
On Monday, the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Dakota Access Pipeline must shut down by August 5 pending additional environmental review.
"The Court ORDERS that: 1) Dakota Access's 547 Motion for Provisional Stay is DENIED; and 2) The Court will set a status hearing to discuss scheduling as soon as it receives Dakota Access's motion for a stay pending appeal," the court filing said.
The Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes have been engaged in a three-year legal battle with the Trump administration and the pipeline's parent company, Energy Transfer Partners, to block the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline from passing through their sacred land, which also threatens vital water resources.
The $3.7 billion pipeline was subject to continual protests from 2016 to 2017, which resulted in law enforcement using force against protesters in order to allow the construction of the pipeline to be completed.
The Dakota Access Pipeline is used to move some 570,000 barrels of oil per day from North Dakota through South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois.
