Federal Judge Orders Dakota Access Pipeline to Be Shut Down

Federal Judge Orders Dakota Access Pipeline to Be Shut Down
Dakota Access pipeline protesters stand in defiance of law enforcement officers who are trying to force them from a camp on private land in the path of pipeline construction near Cannon Ball, N.D., on Oct. 27, 2016. James MacPherson/AP Photo
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A federal judge on July 6 ordered the Dakota Access Pipeline to be shut down and emptied while the U.S. government conducts an in-depth environmental impact review.

U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg ordered the underground oil pipeline to be emptied by Aug. 5, delivering a victory to Native American tribes after a years-long legal battle. The court had previously ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had violated federal environmental law when it granted a permit for an easement to construct a segment of the 1,172-mile pipeline beneath Lake Oahe, a large reservoir behind a dam on the Missouri River.