FARGO, N.D. (AP) – A federal judge agreed to push back a hearing about whether the Dakota Access oil pipeline should be allowed to continue operating without a key permit while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducts an environmental review on the project.
The Corps filed a motion Monday to postpone the Wednesday hearing in order to allow Biden administration officials more time to familiarize themselves with the case. The Standing Rock Sioux Reservation filed a lawsuit in 2016 in an attempt to stop construction of the pipeline, which began operating in 2017. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg reset the hearing for April 9. Neither the tribes nor Texas-based Energy Transfer, which owns the pipeline, objected to the delay.
(The Associated Press contributed this report.)
