"U.S. Judge To Rule On Dakota Access Pipeline Easement In Early March"

"A U.S. judge said on Tuesday he hopes to decide by about March 7 on a request by Native American tribes for the Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw an easement on religious grounds for the final link of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

At a hearing Judge James Boasberg of the U.S. Court in Washington, D.C., said he hoped to provide a written ruling by that time on the injunction requested by the Standing Rock Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes regarding the final section of the line to go under a lake in North Dakota.

Boasberg said if Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the $3.8 billion line, expects the project will be completed and oil will flow before March 7, that the company must give him 48 hours notice so he can release his ruling."

Timothy Gardner reports for Reuters February 28, 2017.