A federal judge in Washington D.C. refused to issue a provisional stay of the court’s Monday order to close the Dakota Access Pipeline pending environmental review.
Dakota Access LLC filed a motion on Monday to stay U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg’s order to empty oil from the pipeline and shut it down pending the production of an Environmental Impact Statement by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In its motion, Dakota Access LLC said it would be appealing Boasberg’s decision and “seeking a stay pending appeal to permit the Dakota Access Pipeline to continue operating while the D.C. Circuit considers the appeal.” Dakota Access LLC said it would first seek a stay pending appeal from Judge Boasberg, then ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for a stay if Judge Boasberg refused.
Judge Boasberg denied the provisional stay request but said he would set a date for a hearing once he received Dakota Access’s motion for stay.
Dakota Access LLC argued in its motion that the provisional stay was justified because shutting the “major interstate pipeline” would require “a number of expensive steps” that would take “well more” than 30 days (the amount of time Judge Boasberg deemed appropriate to shut down the pipeline).
[Photo via Andrew Burton/Getty Images]
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