Why was the corps able to change anything?
I believe that the portion of the pipeline that goes under the Missouri River is a wide spot (”lake”) created by a dam, and the area is owned by the Feds and run by the Corp. I read where the pipeline company started construction of the line (85% done now) without the final permit for this section, but must have figured in talks that it would be a done deal. The company also said that it already has the mineral rights to this land, and that they will use those rights to allow them to bore under the lake.
Excerpts:
Federal officials have denied the final permits required for the Dakota Access Pipeline project in North Dakota.
The Army Corps of Engineers on Sunday announced it would instead conduct an environmental impact review of the 1,170-mile pipeline project...
Energy Transfers didn’t immediately respond to the announcement on Sunday, but CEO Kelcy Warren has previously said the project — a majority of which is complete — will move forward, even if it means waiting for Trump to take office next month....
“President Obama’s decision not to issue the final easement is a rejection of the entire regulatory and judicial system, as well as the scores of Army Corps of Engineers and civil servants who toiled for more than 800 days to ensure the process was followed correctly, in accordance with the law,” said Craig Stevens, a spokesman for the group Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now.
...while the tribe fought against it in the courts and within the Obama administration.
After a federal judge approved of regulators’ initial permitting process for the pipeline, the Obama administration immediately stepped in and said it would conduct a new review of the project. That review culminated in Sunday’s announcement from the Army Corps...