Gov. Doug Burgum today released the following statement after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released its draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) on the easement for the existing Dakota Access Pipeline crossing at Lake Oahe.
“For more than six years, the state-of-the-art Dakota Access Pipeline has safely moved over half a million barrels of oil per day from North Dakota – strengthening our nation’s energy security, increasing revenues to our state, local communities and mineral owners, and making our highways and communities safer by removing the need for thousands of tanker trucks and hundreds of railcars every day,” Burgum said. “Now, under this court-ordered DEIS prepared by the Army Corps of Engineers, three of the five alternatives would effectively force DAPL to shut down. This is simply unacceptable and would only force oil onto other modes of transportation that are more costly to consumers, less safe and less friendly to the environment. The Corps should bring an end to this unnecessary and costly process by reaffirming the existing easement under Alternative 3 and continuing to allow the safe and clean operation of this critical infrastructure project, instead of allowing the Biden administration to continue its war on American energy, which only empowers foreign dictators and puts our national security at risk.”