EDF Responds to Army Corps of Engineers Decision to Grant Easement on Dakota Access Pipeline

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced that it will grant the easement required to complete construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, saying that all steps in the Presidential Memorandumof January 24, 2017 have been completed.

“The prior Administration was right to order a second look at this project and the possibility of alternative routes, because of concerns that proper environmental and cultural impacts had not been adequately assessed. With this decision, the new Administration appears uninterested in honoring the rights of Native Americans, and is setting a worrying precedent for any community in the path of oil and gas pipelines to come. Fortunately, we are a nation of laws. We expect the Standing Rock Sioux to take this matter to court; we support their right to do so.”

• Dan Grossman, Rocky Mountain Regional Director, Environmental Defense Fund