Earthjustice revealed this week that Energy Transfer, the operator of the Dakota Access Pipeline, will soon increase the number of barrels of oil per day transported between the Bakken formation in northwest North Dakota through South Dakota into Iowa to an oil terminal near Patoka, Illinois. But according to Earthjustice, the company doesn’t have a new permit to allow the transportation of the increased volume of oil.
Energy Transfer told investors it was now equipped to transport 750,000 bbl/day from 570,000 bbl/day “it sought approval to transport when applying for a federal permit in 2016,” according to a press release. But the Dakota Access Pipeline’s (DAPL) existing federal permit was revoked last year after a federal court ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.
“Energy Transfer is running an illegal pipeline with no permit and that is subject to federal enforcement action for violating safety laws,” Jan Hasselman, said Earthjustice attorney who is representing the Tribe in court, said. “Expanding operations is a slap in the face to the community. How long before the Biden administration steps in to put an end to this?”
This new possible violation comes a week after a federal enforcement action was filed against Energy Transfer for violating safety regulations.
“This pipeline operator lost its permit because Standing Rock’s concerns were ignored, and federal environmental laws flouted, when the pipeline was first installed,” Ira Taken Alive, vice-chair of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said. “Now with increased capacity, the threat to our health and drinking water supply has only grown. We look to the Biden administration to take action.”
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