GAIN Statement on Tribe’s Decision to Withdraw “Cooperating Agency” Status on DAPL Review
After years of attempting to shutter the crude oil pipeline and calling for additional environmental review, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe today withdrew their status as a cooperating agency with U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). As part of the review process, the Corps included several interested parties, including local tribes, to serve as cooperating agencies and provide feedback.
The Corps’ review comes after more than 4.5 years of DAPL’s safe operation, transporting more than a half a million barrels of oil per day from the Bakken in North Dakota to Illinois.
Below is a statement that can be attributed to me, Craig Stevens, spokesman for the GAIN Coalition:
“The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s decision to withdraw as a cooperating agency with the Corps’ review of DAPL is disappointing. While the Tribe’s decision to no longer ‘cooperate’ is well within their purview, it underscores that this whole exercise has been a solution in search of a regulatory problem. It is unfortunate that the Tribe continues to promote misinformation regarding the project, having once again put politics before fact and science. However, we are confident that the Corps’ review will reaffirm their previous findings that DAPL presents no significant impact and can continue its safe and critical operations.”
