A federal judge tossed out a renewed attempt to shut down the Dakota Access oil pipeline.
Chief Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia said Friday that the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe had prematurely sued to block the pipeline for continuing to operate beneath Lake Oahe in the Dakotas without a valid easement.
Even if the tribe could succeed on the merits of its claim, it “would be precluded from seeking any injunctive relief here,” Boasberg said in a memorandum opinion.
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The tribe, which won a legal fight in 2021 to secure more federal environmental review of the Energy Transfer pipeline, filed a new legal challenge against the Army Corps of Engineers last October.
