The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has asked that construction continue to be halted at part of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) after a federal court said work could proceed.
According to ABC News, the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. ruled on Sunday night that construction work on the $3.7 billion pipeline can resume after denying a request for an injunction to stop construction.
The injunction request was filed by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe who claim the pipeline could impact water quality and sacred sites in southern North Dakota.
The court agreed to allow construction but said that its ruling was “not the final word” on the matter, ABC News said.
Earlier this year, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that claimed the Army Corps violated environmental and historical preservation laws when it approved the project.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Department of Interior and the Department of the Army halted construction at a portion of the line on Army Corps of Engineers land bordering or under Lake Oahe.
Lake Oahe straddles the border between North Dakota and South Dakota.
The Army Corps said that construction would be paused until it could “determine whether it will need to reconsider any of its previous decisions regarding the Lake Oahe site under the National Environmental Policy Act or other federal laws.”
The federal agencies also requested that DAPL owner Energy Transfer pause all construction activity within 20 miles east or west of Lake Oahe.
Despite Sunday’s ruling, the federal agencies said they are not ready to allow construction work to restart at the Lake Oahe site.
In a joint statement released on Monday, the agencies said “the Army will not authorize constructing the Dakota Access Pipeline on Corps land bordering or under Lake Oahe” until it concludes its ongoing review.
The agencies said they hope to complete the review “soon” and reiterated their request that Energy Transfer voluntarily pause all construction activity within 20 miles east or west of Lake Oahe.
Energy Transfer has not commented on the ruling or the joint statement.
According to memo from Energy Transfer CEO Kelcy Warren, construction on about 60 percent of the pipeline had been completed as of early September.
The 470,000 barrel per day pipeline is currently expected to be online in late 2016.
