Government Energy Policy, Business and Technology

Judge rejects Standing Rock request to block Dakota Access pipeline drilling

The Guardian: A federal judge has rejected a request from indigenous tribes to block drilling of the Dakota Access pipeline, the latest blow to the Standing Rock Sioux after Donald Trump fast-tracked final permits for the last phase of construction.

The Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes challenged the president’s decision last week to speed approvals for the last stretch of the $3.7bn pipeline under the Missouri river in North Dakota. But US district James Boasberg sided with the pipeline corporation at a Washington DC hearing on Monday afternoon and ruled to allow continued construction.

At Standing Rock – where activists known as water protectors have been camping since last spring – indigenous people said the court decision would not discourage them from continuing to fight the project on the ground.

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