Army Corps says Dakota Access Pipeline can keep operating in new review

On Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, the Army Corps of Engineers released a nearly 500‑page environmental impact statement concluding that the Dakota Access Pipeline could continue operating while recommending additional safety measures to protect water where the line crosses Corps‑managed land at Lake Oahe.

The report, which must still be finalized, said the pipeline could keep running and its finding could weaken long‑running litigation by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which has argued the pipeline was operating without a required easement and a final environmental review. The tribe said it was not consulted about the report and that it failed to address concerns about water, ancestral lands and sovereignty; Steve Sitting Bear, the tribe’s chairman, said, "At every turn, our rights and the health and safety of our people and the environment are ignored." Gov.

Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota called the pipeline "an essential part of our nation's energy infrastructure." The Army Corps report came amid separate court fights between Energy Transfer, the pipeline company, and Greenpeace. Energy Transfer won hundreds of millions of dollars in damages earlier this year that threatened Greenpeace’s U.S.

Key Topics

Politics, Dakota Access Pipeline, Lake Oahe, Army Corps, Standing Rock Sioux, Energy Transfer