Pipeline Company Seeks Court Permission to Proceed With Plan

Pipeline Company Seeks Court Permission to Proceed With Plan
Dakota Pipeline protesters stand arm-in-arm at the intersection of Rosser Avenue and Fourth Street in downtown Bismarck, N.D., on Nov. 14, 2016. Mike McCleary/The Bismarck Tribune via AP
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CANNON BALL, N.D.—The company building a $3.8 billion oil pipeline sought a federal judge’s permission Tuesday to circumvent President Barack Obama’s administration and move ahead with a disputed section of the project in North Dakota, as opponents held protests across the country urging it to be rejected.

Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners and a subsidiary asked the court to let them lay pipe under a Missouri River reservoir, a plan the Standing Rock Sioux says threatens its drinking water and cultural sites. The Army Corps of Engineers said Monday it needs more time to study the impact of the plan.

While President-elect Donald Trump, a pipeline supporter, likely would greenlight the project when he takes office in January, the company is trying to win federal approval—or a court order—to allow it to go forward now. The delay has already cost nearly $100 million, the company said in court documents, “and further delay in the consideration of this case would add millions of dollars more each month in costs which cannot be recovered.”

Protesters demonstrate in solidarity with members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in North Dakota over the construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, in Philadelphia, on Nov. 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Protesters demonstrate in solidarity with members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in North Dakota over the construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline, in Philadelphia, on Nov. 15, 2016. AP Photo/Matt Rourke