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Groton Daily Independent
Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 102 ~ 25 of 63
Judge to hear arguments on tribe’s pipeline contingency plan By BLAKE NICHOLSON, Associated Press
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A federal judge in Washington, D.C., will accept arguments over the next month on whether the developer of the Dakota Access pipeline must stage equipment near an American Indian reservation in southern North Dakota to respond to any oil spill under the Missouri River.
The idea is part of a fallback plan proposed by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in August in case U.S. District Judge James Boasberg eventually decided to allow the four-state pipeline to continue operating while federal of cials do more study on the $3.8 billion project’s impact on the tribe.
Boasberg ruled on Oct. 11 that oil could keep owing from western North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to a distribution point in Illinois, as it has been since June 1. President Donald Trump earlier this year pushed through the pipeline’s completion.
On Wednesday, Boasberg conferred with attorneys on both sides of an ongoing tribal lawsuit against the pipeline and set a timeline for arguments on Standing Rock’s proposal. It includes increased public reporting of pipeline issues such as repairs, and implementation of an emergency spill response plan — including equipment staging — at the crossing beneath the Missouri River’s Lake Oahe reservoir.
The tribe gets its water from the reservoir and fears harm from any spill. Standing Rock is the leader of four Sioux tribes hoping to convince Boasberg to shut down the line, which Texas-based developer Energy Transfer Partners maintains is safe.
Boasberg won’t make a decision until the Army Corps of Engineers, which permitted the project, com- pletes more study that he ordered in June on the pipeline’s impact on Standing Rock. The additional review isn’t likely to be completed until next spring, according to the Corps.
Boasberg in his ruling allowing pipeline operations to continue noted that the Corps and ETP had not yet expressed their positions on the tribe’s “alternative relief” plan and said he would hear arguments on the matter. He’ll make a decision on the proposal sometime after mid-November under the timeline for arguments that he set Wednesday.
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Follow Blake Nicholson on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/NicholsonBlake
Auction of former STAR Academy solicits no bids
CUSTER, S.D. (AP) — The auction of a former state-run juvenile corrections facility near Custer solicited no bids.
The State Treatment and Rehabilitation Academy closed in April 2016 because of a signi cant drop in the number of juveniles being sent there by the courts.
It was put up for sale Wednesday. The state Board of Appraisal earlier this year appraised the property at $2.3 million.
A group of South Dakota lawmakers on Tuesday asked Gov. Dennis Daugaard to postpone the sale, say- ing more time should be dedicated to nding the best use for the property. He refused.
The Rapid City Journal reports that Wednesday’s auction was ended after about a minute due to no bids. Policy adviser Hunter Roberts says Daugaard’s of ce will discuss what to do next.
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Information from: Rapid City Journal, http://www.rapidcityjournal.com
Crews quickly smother re at oil re nery near Los Angeles By CHRISTOPHER WEBER, Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A re that erupted at the largest oil re nery on the West Coast threatened storage tanks while sending huge ames into the sky and black smoke across California neighborhoods before crews quickly smothered it.
Dozens of re ghters responded late Tuesday to the 1,000-acre Chevron El Segundo Re nery just south