Brittany Hobson
APTN National News
A move by United States President Donald Trump to push the Dakota Access pipeline through will likely find itself back in court says the lawyer representing Standing Rock Tribal Council.
Whether that happens depends how the United States Army Corps of Engineers responds to Trump’s executive order he made Tuesday encouraging them to get the pipeline done as fast as possible.
“If (the Corps) decide to issue the easement tomorrow, I think it’s reasonable to expect that we will be back in court with a legal challenge to that decision,” said lawyer Jan Hasselman Wednesday.
Standing Rock Tribal Council Chair Dave Archambault also said Wednesday that Trump is using his power to circumvent laws by attempting to bypass the environmental review process.
One of the last orders of the Obama Administration was to launch an environmental study for the pipeline project.
Standing Rock has reached out to the White House with no luck said Archambault.
Despite the move by Trump, Archambault still wants protesters to clear out.
“Those safety concerns are still there. Just because the executive order came doesn’t mean it’s not going to flood now. Doesn’t mean there are things that are happening that shouldn’t be down at the camp,” he said.
