Cannon Ball, N.D. — This morning, Judge Boasberg convened a status hearing with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Dakota Access, and U.S. Dept. of Justice attorneys representing the Army Corps. The judge questioned the government as to when they would have a decision in response to the President’s memorandum of January 24th. The government responded that they have no decision at this time and no timeline for when that decision might be made. The hearing provided no indication as to how the Army might decide to proceed.

A second status hearing was set for next Monday, February 6th. Judge Boasberg asked for answers to two questions: 1) When will the Dept. of the Army have a decision on how to proceed given the memo; and 2) If the easement is granted, how long will it take DAPL to complete the pipeline?

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe maintains that a granting of the final easement will cause irreparable harm to our culture, sacred places, and puts our future in jeopardy with the likelihood of severe contamination of our water supply. For the government to issue the easement and not continue with the EIS process sets dangerous precedent. We maintain that to change course now would be arbitrary and without justification, and would amount to political manipulation of our court system. We look to the courts to help maintain the integrity of the regulatory process.

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Contact:

Chelsea Hawkins
[email protected]
206.556.1653

Sue Evans
[email protected]
253.592.1590