BISMARCK 鈥� Operators of the Dakota Access oil pipeline received momentary relief Tuesday, July 14, after a federal appeals court temporarily froze a lower court's order for the pipeline to shut down by Aug. 5.
The announcement by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit provides short-term breathing room for North Dakota oil companies who were facing the possibility of an immediate DAPL stoppage in order to comply with U.S. District Judge James Boasberg's ruling from earlier this month.
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But while some North Dakota lawmakers celebrated the news, the announcement only buys time for the appeals court to deliberate over the emergency stay requested by Dakota Access last week, a more consequential decision that will determine whether the pipeline can continue operating through the appeals process.
In its brief statement, the appeals court stressed that the freeze is strictly procedural and should not be interpreted as foreshadowing of its opinion on either the emergency stay or the shutdown appeal: "The purpose of this administrative stay is to give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the emergency motion for stay and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion."
Essentially, the administrative stay is a legal placeholder that grants temporary permission for DAPL to operate beyond Boasberg's Aug. 5 deadline. But the appeals court's verdict on the requested emergency stay could still put a halt to pipeline operations at any time, a development that would trigger wide-ranging effects for North Dakota's economy and oil production over the next year.
North Dakota Republicans celebrated the latest announcement and expressed hope that the court would extend longer term permission by approving the emergency stay.
鈥淐ommon sense prevails," Sen. Kevin Cramer wrote in a press statement about the court's announcement. "The shutdown order was unreasonable and a clear example of judicial overreach. I hope the time will be used to find common ground among litigants.鈥�
Sen. John Hoeven called the temporary stay "a good step" and turned his attention to the yet-undecided emergency stay. "Next, we hope the Circuit Court will grant a long-term stay and allow the pipeline to continue operating," he wrote.
Last month, Boasberg ruled that the pipeline must shut down until the completion of a thorough environmental review by the Army Corps of Engineers, estimated to take about 13 months. The decision was a rare legal victory for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other tribes fighting the pipeline, as well as a massive blow to North Dakota鈥檚 already struggling oil industry.
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DAPL has become a national flashpoint in the conflict between environmentalists and oil companies, sparking protests that sometimes turned violent at the site where the pipeline crosses the Missouri River near the Standing Rock Reservation. The tribe has expressed concern for the safety of its water supply with the pipeline running beneath the river.
On Twitter, Jan Hasselman, an attorney from EarthJustice who represents the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, emphasized that the administrative stay was a short-term solution and not an indicator of the appeals court's opinion on pipeline operations. "These are routine and in no way a reflection of how the court will decide the motion," he wrote.
Energy Transfer Partners, the parent company to DAPL, said last week that it had not taken any steps to begin a shutdown and that it was continuing to accept nominations for oil shipments in the month of August.
