BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — An industry group that supports the $3.8 billion Dakota Access oil pipeline is praising a federal judge’s decision to allow the project to be completed.
The MAIN Coalition is made up of agriculture, business and labor entities that benefit from Midwest infrastructure projects. Spokesman Craig Stevens says the decision by U.S. District Judge James Boasberg bolsters arguments that the pipeline developer and government have properly followed laws and regulations.
The Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes dispute that. Their attorneys say they’ll continue their legal battle against the pipeline to move North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Patoka, Illinois.
Texas-based Developer Energy Transfer Partners says the pipeline could be moving oil as early as next week.