Dakota Access Court Ruling Could Spell Trouble For Oil Pipelines

A decision this week in a years-long case over the Dakota Access crude pipeline may not halt flows on the controversial Energy Transfer LP project, but it does spell trouble for other oil pipelines that aren’t yet built.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Wednesday that the Army Corps of Engineers’ latest analysis of Dakota Access didn’t fully grapple with how the oil pipeline affects the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other groups near its route. The court ordered the agency to conduct a full-fledged environmental impact statement, which would replace the abbreviated environmental assessment that ...