Construction of the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline has been halted.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spokeswoman Moria Kelley said in a news release Sunday that the administration will not allow the four-state, $3.8-billion pipeline to be built under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir where construction had been on hold.
Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy said her decision was based on the need to “explore alternate routes” for the pipeline’s crossing.
The 1,885-kilometre pipeline — owned by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP — is mostly complete, except for a segment planned to run under Lake Oahe near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.
For months, thousands of people have descended upon a handful of camps in the area to voice opposition to the pipeline, which they said threatened drinking water and would harm sacred sites. The largest is the Oceti Sakowin Camp, which is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a federal agency operated under the U.S. Department of Defense.
“Today, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that it will not be granting the easement to cross Lake Oahe for the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline,” tribal chair Dave Archambault II said in a statement. “Instead, the Corps will be undertaking an environmental impact statement to look at possible alternative routes.”
The tribe issued a statement thanking protesters, supporters and U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration. They said protesters, or self-described water protectors, will return home.
“With this decision we look forward to being able to return home and spend the winter with our families and our loved ones, many of whom have sacrificed as well,” the statement reads.
