The District Court for the District of Colombia (United States) has ordered Energy Transfer shut the 570,000 bbl/d Dakota Access pipeline, which carries crude oil from Bakken and Three Forks oil production areas in North Dakota to Pakota in Illinois. According to the ruling, the US Army Corps of Engineers failed to produce an adequate Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the project. Consequently, the regulator contravened to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it awarded an easement to Energy Transfer to construct and operate a segment of the oil pipeline beneath Lake Oahe in South Dakota.
The US Army Corps of Engineers granted the final permit for the project in February 2017 and the oil pipeline project was commissioned in June 2017. The project was opposed by Native American tribes and environmental groups and several lawsuits were filed in order to stop the pipeline.