Biden Warned Against Shutting Down Dakota Access Pipeline

(Bloomberg) -- Congressional backers of Energy Transfer LP’s controversial Dakota Access Pipeline are warning the Biden administration against shutting it down amid an extensive environmental review that’s leaving the oil line’s fate in limbo.

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“We are concerned the additional scrutiny being imposed on the project has little to do with actual environmental effects and more to do with opposing the type of fuel the infrastructure carries,” North Dakota’s congressional delegation wrote in a letter to the Army Corps led by Republican Senator Kevin Cramer.

The letter, which comes as pressure on President Joe Biden intensifies to make a decision before the Nov. 5 elections, urges the administration to allow uninterrupted operation of the 1,200 mile pipeline’s existing route. A decision to reroute the pipeline, one of the options under consideration, could result in 100 miles of pipe being abandoned and more than 100 miles of ground being dug for a new line, wrote the lawmakers, which also included Republicans Senator John Hoeven and Representative Kelly Armstrong.

Read More: Dakota Access Study Leaves US Oil Pipeline’s Fate in Limbo

Uncertainty has surrounded the future of the conduit that carries 200 million barrels of crude a year from North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields to Illinois’ Patoka oil terminal. The pipeline, which won approval during the first weeks of the Trump administration, has been the focus of intense opposition by climate activists, celebrities and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, who argued that it was a threat to their water supply and cultural resources.

The Army Corps is conducting the review, which it is expected to finish by December 2024.

--With assistance from Jennifer A. Dlouhy.

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