Dozens of Democrats urge Biden to shut down Dakota pipeline; meet with tribes

Dozens of Democratic lawmakers have pleaded with US President Joe Biden to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline after a court said it was up to the administration to stop the conteroversial crude oil project pending an environmental review.

In January, a federal appeals court upheld a district judge's decision to throw out a key federal permit for the construction of the pipeline and order an expansive environmental review that would determine if the project could keep running.

The ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia made it possible for the 557,000 barrel-per-day project to be paused while the environmental review was underway.

However, the court left the decision on whether to shut the pipeline’s operations with the Army Corps of Engineers, which has been tasked with carrying out the assessment.

“How and on what terms the Corps will enforce its property rights is ... a matter for the Corps to consider,” the three-judge panel said at the time.

The legislators— more than 30 Democrats and Independent Senator Bernie Sanders-- wrote to Biden this week, urging him to shut down the pipeline while it faces the environmental review.

“By shutting down this illegal pipeline, you can continue to show your administration values the environment and the rights of Indigenous communities more than the profits of outdated fossil fuel industries,” the lawmakers wrote.

“This is a critical step towards righting the wrongs of the past and setting our nation on a path of environmental, climate, and social justice.”

Thursday's letter was led by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Reps. Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-Calif.), Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) and Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.). 

Indigenous tribes and environmentalists argue that the Dakota Access pipeline— the primary artery for delivering crude from North Dakota’s Bakken field and the second-largest shale project in the US—is operating illegally as its owners have been locked in a years-long permitting battle.

“This pipeline is now operating illegally. It doesn't have any permits,” said Jan Hasselman, an EarthJustice attorney who is representing the Standing Rock Sioux and other tribes in their fight against the 1,100-mile crude project.

“The appeals court put the ball squarely in the court of the Biden administration to take action,” said Hasselman. “And I mean shutting the pipeline down until this environmental review is completed.”

President Biden has pledged to boost renewable energy development in the US and reduce carbon emissions. On his first day in office, he canceled Keystone XL oil pipeline’s permit, prompting calls from environmentalists to move against other pipeline projects.

In their letter to Biden, the lawmakers called on the Democratic president to meet with members of the impacted tribes in the region, including the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, to better understand how the Dakota pipeline affects their lives and the environment.

Dakota pipeline affects their lives and the environment.

In 2016, Native Americans camped for weeks at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and a burial ground sacred site that was disturbed by bulldozers building the Dakota pipeline. They were forcibly removed from their encampment by police.

“In 2016, we witnessed egregious environmental racism as North Dakota law enforcement officials violently removed protestors from the path of DAPL, many of them from the nearby Standing Rock Sioux Tribe,” the lawmakers told Biden.

A coalition of businesses, trade associations and labor groups called Grow America’s Infrastructure Now (GAIN) have urged the Biden administration to allow the pipeline to keep operating “unhindered by political influence.”

The pipeline faces a new court hearing on April 9.

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