A federal appeals court gave Dakota Access a green light Wednesday, Aug. 5, to keep running its pipeline during a long appeals process, granting temporary relief to a North Dakota oil industry that was bracing for the costs of a sudden shutdown.
In a much-anticipated decision, a three-member panel on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals put an emergency stay on the immediate shutdown of DAPL, reversing last month’s order by trial court judge James Boasberg that the pipeline stop running by Aug. 5.
The decision came with a significant caveat. The appeals court stated that Dakota Access has so far failed to refute Boasberg’s order for a lengthy environmental review and called on the Army Corps of Engineers to clarify whether the pipeline should be allowed to keep running in violation of environmental law.
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