3月25日，一名联邦法官罢免了美国陆军工程兵团的允许达科他州访问管道，并命令该机构在该项目开始运行三年后，完成密苏里河下面的过境点的环境影响声明。

Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C., federal district court found there are unresolved concerns about the potential effects of oil spills on the river that the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe relies on for fishing, agriculture, drinking water and religious ceremonies.

But his ruling stopped short of ordering the 1,172- mile pipeline between Illinois and North Dakota shut down, with briefs on this issue due from both sides next month.

The tribe originally brought suit against the agency after it issued a permit in 2016, and in early 2017 the Corps agreed to prepare the EIS.

但是，在2017年1月的行政变更和鼓励加速管道项目的总统备忘录之后，该军团重新考虑了其决定，并最终决定终止其准备EIS的意图。

Boasberg在他的长达42页的观点中说，太多的问题仍未得到解决。

关于leak-detect“Unrebutted专家批评ion systems, operator safety records, adverse conditions, and worst-case discharge mean that the easement approval remains ‘highly controversial’ under the National Environmental Policy Act,” he said, noting the Corps has not adequately discharged its duties under the law.

The Corps relied on studies citing pipeline data from older pipelines installed prior to modern pipeline standards, the opinion said.

该机构尚未对该裁决发表评论。

Two consulting engineers advising the tribe also found the system was not even designed to detect leaks that constituted 1% or less of the pipe’s flow rate. “At the current pipeline flow rate of about 600,000 barrels per day, about 25,200 gallons, could be released continuously, over a long period of time, without detection,” the court said.

“This validates everything the tribe has been saying all along about the risk of oil spills to the people of Sanding rock,” Jan Hasselman, attorney for Earthjustice, said in a statement.

“经过多年的承诺捍卫我们的水和地球，我们欢迎这一重大法律胜利的消息，”苏伊州苏福部落主席迈克·菲斯（Mike Faith）说。