WASHINGTON (Reuters) — A U.S. appeals court dealt a blow to the Dakota Access crude oil pipeline on Tuesday, upholding a lower court’s decision to throw out a key federal permit for the line and order it to undergo a lengthy environmental review.
The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia panel raises the possibility that Energy Transfer LP’s 557,000 barrel-per-day Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) could be shut down, depending on the status of the environmental review.
Energy Transfer, which operates the line, was not immediately available for comment.
The court did not affirm the lower court’s order to have the line shut, so it will continue to operate.
In July, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers violated federal environmental law when it permitted Energy Transfer to construct and operate a portion of DAPL that crosses Lake Oahe, a vital drinking water for native tribes that brought the suit.
That court, also last year, ordered the environmental review. The outcome of that review will determine whether the line will remain operational. Without it, it could be a detriment to production in the Bakken shale region, which produces more than 1 million bpd of oil.
Reporting By Laila Kearney Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Marguerita Choy
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