Burgum says Corps should argue for keeping pipeline running

February 12, 2021

BISMARCK,N.D. (AP) – North Dakota Republican Gov. Doug Burgum is asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to argue for keeping the Dakota Access oil pipeline operating while it conducts an environmental review on the project.

A federal judge has asked the Corps to explain how “it expects to proceed” now that court rulings have determined that the pipeline is operating without a permit to cross beneath Lake Oahe, a reservoir along the Missouri River that is maintained by the Corps.

A hearing on the matter originally scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed to April 9.

Burgum’s letter to the Corps says that shutting down the pipeline during the review “would have devastating consequences for the state” and a “chilling effect on infrastructure investment” across the country