CANNON BALL, N.D.—The developer of the Dakota Access pipeline has resumed construction of the long-delayed project that would route oil under a North Dakota reservoir, even as American Indian activists vowed to take legal action to protect their water supply.
The Army granted Energy Transfer Partners formal permission Wednesday to lay pipe under Lake Oahe, clearing the way for completion of the 1,200-mile, $3.8 billion pipeline.
ETP spokeswoman Vicki Granado early Thursday confirmed that construction resumed “immediately after receiving the easement.”
Workers had already drilled entry and exit holes for the crossing, and oil had been put in the pipeline leading up to the lake in anticipation of finishing the project. CEO Kelcy Warren has said Energy Transfer Partners could complete the pipeline in about three months.
Work has been stalled for months due to opposition by the Standing Rock Sioux and a prolonged court battle between the developer and the Army Corps of Engineers that oversees the federal land where the last segment of the pipeline will be laid. But President Donald Trump last month instructed the Corps to advance pipeline construction.
