Dakota Access Pipeline Draws Plenty of Controversy as Court Ruling Nears

Editor's note: For an update on this topic, check out Industrial Info's Blog entry, "U.S. Government Halts Part of Dakota Access Oil Pipeline Project Despite Court Ruling".

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The Dakota Access Pipeline has gotten a lot of public attention of late, although it's not the kind of publicity its developers would want. The pipeline, which would move an estimated 470,000 barrels per day or more of crude oil from the Bakken Shale, has pitted Native American tribes against developer Energy Transfer Partners L.P. (NYSE:ETP) (Dallas, Texas) and the U.S. Corps of Engineers. Even in Laos earlier this week, visiting President Barack Obama was asked for his opinion of the controversy.

Industrial Info is tracking the development and construction of six terminals and seven pump stations that are part of the pipeline, as well as details such as equipment and contractors. The 1,172-mile, 30-inch-diameter pipeline will connect the Bakken and Three Forks production areas in North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois. It will run through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois, but it is in North Dakota where the $3.8 billion project has drawn the most controversy.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is suing the U.S. Corps of Engineers, which approved the project earlier this year. The tribe says the project poses an environmental threat and would damage sacred tribal burial grounds. It says the Corps of Engineers failed to follow proper procedures when it gave its approval. Project advocates, such as Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now, say the project doesn't cross the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Reservation, and there is no evidence that it would harm any burial sites.

Things came to a head last weekend when protestors and security guards violently clashed at the construction site near the tribal reservation. According to news accounts, law enforcers said some protestors threatened and attacked the security dogs, while protestors said the guards used pepper spray and tear gas on them. On Tuesday, even Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein got into the act, appearing on video with the protestors and spray-painting a bulldozer.

On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg granted a temporary restraining order halting construction of part of the pipeline. However, the order did not prohibit construction on adjacent project sites, where the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe says there are archeological features and tribal grave sites.

Boasberg was expected to rule by Friday on whether to grant an injunction against the Corps of Engineers over the permitting of the project.

Dakota Access LLC, part of Energy Transfer Partners, says the $3.8 billion project investment will create 8,000 to 12,000 jobs during its construction, translating into millions in state and local revenues and an estimated $156 million in sales and income taxes during construction. The project also will result in nearly $189 million in direct payments to landowners for easement payments and about $605 million in labor payments to the various contractors working on the project, according to the company. Energy Transfer Partners says the project is supported by long-term binding contractual commitments from shippers, and it anticipates that the new pipeline and its related facilities will be ready for service in late 2016, pending regulatory approvals.

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