Published: April 30, 2021 |

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The state of North Dakota wants to join the lawsuit over the Dakota Access Pipeline so it can help defend the project.

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem filed a motion to intervene, saying the federal permitting agency that has defended the pipeline in court over the past five years can no longer “adequately represent” North Dakota’s interests.

A lawyer for the U.S. Department of Justice told a judge earlier this month that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would not, at that time, make a decision on whether the pipeline should shut down for a lengthy environmental review while its permit remains revoked. The Corps was in a “continuous process of evaluating” the situation in which the line is considered an “encroachment” on federal property managed by the agency, according to the attorney.

The Corps’ lack of action effectively puts the fate of the line in the hands of U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who last year ordered the line shut down only to have the ruling overturned by an appeals court that said he hadn’t justified the decision.

A memo filed by the state of North Dakota said the Corps was “implicitly abandoning its lead role in defending its decision to grant the easement for DAPL’s crossing under the Missouri River.”

“North Dakota cannot be confident that the Federal Defendant will continue to be a zealous advocate for the continued and safe operation of DAPL which, directly and indirectly, is the source of almost a quarter of the State’s revenues and thousands of jobs in the State. Nor are the State’s interests fully represented by Dakota Access LLC, which has a necessarily more limited and commercial perspective,” the memo said.

Dakota Access is controlled by pipeline operator Energy Transfer.

Energy Transfer supports the state’s motion to intervene, while the Standing Rock Sioux and other tribes fighting the pipeline object, according to the state’s court filings. Standing Rock sued five years ago over the pipeline, which crosses under the river just upstream of its reservation. Tribal members are concerned that any spill would contaminate their water supply, while Energy Transfer maintains the line is safe.

North Dakota has previously outlined to the court the pipeline’s economic impact on the state and the anticipated effects of a potential shutdown. The pipeline, which runs from the Bakken to Illinois, can carry up to 570,000 barrels per day of oil to market. That accounts for about half of North Dakota’s daily oil output.

The state’s request to intervene comes after President Joe Biden assumed office and drew headlines on day one when he canceled a permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Ever since, supporters and opponents of Dakota Access have been anxiously waiting to see how he would handle that pipeline.

Energy Transfer, meanwhile, has petitioned for a full appeals court to rehear its case after a less-than-favorable ruling earlier this year. The pipeline is undergoing an environmental review expected to wrap up in March 2022. The company is challenging a ruling from a three-judge panel of appellate judges affirming that the study must take place and that Boasberg rightfully rescinded the pipeline’s easement for the river crossing.

Source: Bismarck Tribune

About Energy Transfer
Energy Transfer owns and operates one of the largest and most diversified portfolios of energy assets in the United States, with a strategic footprint in all of the major domestic production basins. ET is a publicly traded limited partnership with core operations that include complementary natural gas midstream, intrastate and interstate transportation and storage assets; crude oil, NGL and refined product transportation and terminalling assets; NGL fractionation; and various acquisition and marketing assets. ET, through its ownership of Energy Transfer Operating, also owns Lake Charles LNG Company, as well as the general partner interests, the incentive distribution rights and 28.5 million common units of Sunoco, and the general partner interests and 46.1 million common units of USA Compression Partners.

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