WASHINGTON (AP/NBC) — President Donald Trump is expected to advance construction on two oil pipeline projects that have been fiercely disputed and were delayed under his predecessor, NBC News has learned.
Trump is scheduled to sign an executive order that will make it easier for TransCanada to construct the Keystone XL pipeline and for Energy Transfer Partners to build the final uncompleted portion of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Trump’s press secretary has reiterated the president’s support for energy projects like the disputed Dakota Access oil pipeline.
Sean Spicer didn’t say Monday whether Trump would seek to reverse the Army’s decision to explore alternate routes for the $3.8 billion project to move North Dakota oil to a shipping point in Illinois. But he described projects like Dakota Access as “a big priority.”
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters say the pipeline threatens drinking water and Native American cultural sites. Developer Energy Transfer Partners – which Trump once owned stock in – disputes that.
The pipeline is nearly complete but stalled while the Army Corps of Engineers does a full environmental study before deciding whether to allow it to cross the Missouri River in North Dakota.
Filed under: National, News Tagged: accessing dakota pipeline, dakota oil pipeline, native american land dakota access, oil pipeline native american land, pipeline, president trump executive order dakota access pipeline, trump dapl, trump signs executive order accessing dakota oil pipeline 