A civilian Army official appointed by President Barack Obama made the decision to reject the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, according to government officials.
The DAPL’s Standing Rock route’s fate was placed in Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy’s hands because of the pipeline’s size.
“Ms. Darcy had the authority to make the decision on behalf of the Department of the Army, and she did so,” Darcy spokesperson Moira Kelley told reporters Wednesday.
Darcy said Sunday that more work needs to fold Standing Rock Sioux tribe members into the decision-making process to find an alternative route for the pipeline. The decision does not refute the Army Corps of Engineer’s previous reports and reviews of the DAPL.
“Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it’s clear that there’s more work to do,” Darcy said in the statement.
Opponents of the Dakota pipeline praised the decision, while Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) and pipeline supporters bashed the Corps for reversing its stance on the project.
Obama appointed Darcy to be Assistant Secretary of the Army in 2009, when he officially took office.
The project, once completed, is expected to bring 470,000 barrels of Bakken crude oil per day from western North Dakota to southern Illinois. Analysts also believe it will create up to 12,000 construction jobs, and provide millions in state and local revenues during the construction phase.
One Army Corps official said the brass “fully support the Army’s decision,” but did recommend pipeline construction be allowed.
The DAPL “met the requirements and legal standing,” the official added, but the Army will “stand by the administration’s decision.”
Standing Rock’s spokesman, Dave Archambault II, meanwhile called the decision to reject the pipeline courageous.
“We believe that she made the right decision because this is going to have an impact on our people, the pipeline would threaten our water, our culture, our heritage,” he told reporters. “This decision took a lot of courage and we commend her for it.”
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