Bismarck (North Dakota): The Standing Rock Indian Reservation successfully blocked the Dakota Access Pipeline as the US Army announced that it would no longer be built across the sacred land.
The US Army Corps of Engineers announced on Sunday it would not allow the pipeline to be drilled under a dammed section of the Missouri River, reports said on Monday.
It said it would look for alternative routes for the $3.7 billion pipeline, the New York Times reported.
“The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing,” the Army’s Assistant Secretary for civil works, Jo-Ellen Darcy, said in a statement.
The construction of the route a half-mile from the Sioux reservation became a global flash point for environmental and indigenous activism.
It drew thousands of people out to sprawling prairie camp of tents, teepees and yurts.
The move could presage a lengthy environmental review that has the potential to block the pipeline’s construction for months or years.
IANS