<article><p class="lead">The US Army Corps of Engineers repeated a request to Energy Transfer Partners to voluntarily halt construction on a portion of the Dakota Access crude pipeline (DAPL) in an effort to diffuse tensions at a contested site. </p><p>In a statement the Army Corps said the company ignored a previous request on 4 November to stop building for a 30-day period and that it is "concerned over recent statements" from DAPL regarding such requests. The Army Corps statement, dated yesterday, came from the agency's Omaha district commander.</p><p>Energy Transfer appeared undeterred during an earnings call today, saying that DAPL is 84pc complete and a final easement needed from the Army Corps was "imminent." </p><p>That easement is for land about 500ft on each side of Lake Oahe in North Dakota.</p><p>The pipeline company is moving horizontal drilling equipment to a drill site in preparation for tunneling under the lake. The equipment should be in place in about two weeks.</p><p>The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has been at the forefront of large protests against the project at the contested site near Lake Oahe and has sued the US Army Corps in an effort to stop the pipeline. The tribe alleges that DAPL would destroy sacred, culturally significant and historic sites, and threaten drinking water sources. Large protests at the site have sometimes turned violent with more than 400 people arrested. </p><p>Energy Transfer denied allegations that the project would destroy sacred Native American sites.</p><p>"Multiple archeological studies conducted with the state historic preservation offices found no culturally significant items or sacred site along the route under construction," said chief financial officer Thomas Long while discussing third quarter earnings. </p><p>The project is 99.98pc on private land, and does not cross any land owned or controlled by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, he said.</p><p>Energy Transfer said that nearly the entire DAPL route in North Dakota is located adjacent to an existing natural gas pipeline corridor built in 1982. As such, the land has been studied and surveyed previously and the company has fully complied with both the letter and spirit of the National Historic Preservation Act.</p><p>In addition, recent decisions by the a federal district court and a US court of appeals show that the Army Corps "met or exceeded all applicable federal statutes" prior to granting permits with respect to all river crossings, Energy Transfer said. </p><p>The election of Republican Donald Trump as US president will likely shift the tide that worked against large pipeline projects such as DAPL. The Standing Rock tribe yesterday urged President Obama to stop the pipeline before leaving office.</p><p>"We believe halting the Dakota Access pipeline presents a unique opportunity for President Obama to set a lasting and true legacy and respect the sovereignty and treaty rights of Standing Rock and tribal nations across America," said the group's chairman Dave Archambault.</p><p>DAPL would move at least 470,000 b/d of crude from the Bakken fields in North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois, for further delivery to the US Gulf coast.</p></article>
