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Dakota pipeline timeline
Energy Transfer Partners, an oil company in Texas, applies to the federal government to build the 1,200-mile, $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline to carry half a million barrels of North Dakota oil daily through the Dakotas and Iowa to a distribution point in Illinois. The proposed route skirts tribal lands and crosses under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir in the Dakotas that serves as the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s drinking water source. -
Dakota pipeline timeline
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Omaha District publishes a draft of its plan to approve the Dakota Access Pipeline route under the Missouri River. The Corps opened the plan up to public comments, including comments on environmental and cultural impacts. -
Dakota pipeline timeline
Opponents to the Dakota Access Pipeline set up what becomes known as the “Oceti Sakowin Camp.” Native and non-Native people across the country and world would eventually come to take part in demonstrations against the pipeline. Occasional run-ins with law enforcement would turn violent. -
Dakota pipeline timeline
Parts of the Dakota Access Pipeline that cross under the Missouri River and Lake Oahe reservoir are approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. -
Dakota pipeline timeline
The Army Corps of Engineers grants pipeline permits at more than 200 water crossings. The Standing Rock Sioux sues. The Cheyenne River Sioux later join the lawsuit as plaintiffs. -
Dakota pipeline timeline
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe files a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers saying that the tribe was not properly consulted before the approval of pipeline construction. -
Dakota pipeline timeline
Aug. 10 — North Dakota authorities make the first arrests of protesters. The total eventually reaches 761 over more than six months. Those arrested include actress Shailene Woodley and Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, neither of whom ends up serving jail time. -
Dakota pipeline timeline
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe issues a statement saying Energy Transfer Partners demolished an area that contained "significant Native artifacts and sacred sites" when construction crews bulldozed a two-mile-long area near the Lake Oahe river crossing and north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. -
Dakota pipeline timeline
North Dakota National Guard is activated, by then-North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple, to help state and local law enforcement monitor water protectors who had set up camp near the pipeline on the Standing Rock reservation. -
Dakota pipeline timeline
Authorities use tear gas, rubber bullets and water sprays on protesters who they say assaulted officers with rocks and burning logs at a blockaded bridge, in one of the most violent clashes of the protest. At least 17 protesters are taken to hospitals. One officer was injured when struck in the head with a rock. -
Dakota pipeline timeline
U.S. Army Corp of Engineers is granted easements to drill under river crossing and at the direction of Trump’s executive order, bypassing the environmental study; including the public comment period. Construction under the Lake Oahe river crossing begins. -
Dakota pipeline timeline
Leaks are reported at different points along the pipeline in South Dakota and North Dakota. -
Dakota pipeline timeline
Oil begins to flow and is being shipped through the full-length of the Dakota Access Pipeline. -
Dakota pipeline timeline
Energy Transfer Partners gauge interest in increasing the pipeline’s capacity from 500,000 barrels of oil per day to up to 600,000 barrels to meet a “growing demand.” -
Dakota pipeline timeline
At the hearing, Energy Transfer Partners argued that the pipeline increasing capacity would not increase risk of a spill and that the company had not cut any corners in construction of the pipeline. -
Dakota pipeline timeline
Ultimately, nearly three years since oil began being transferred through the pipeline, the North Dakota Public Service Commission votes unanimously to expand its capacity. -
Dakota pipeline timeline
A federal judge orders the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a full environmental study on the pipeline. The judge says a more extensive review is necessary than the assessment that was completed for the easement approval. -
Dakota pipeline timeline
A federal judge orders the Dakota Access Pipeline to shut down and remove all oil within 30 days, a huge win for Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and the other plaintiffs. -
Dakota pipeline timeline
A federal judge rejects a request for an emergency order to delay the process of shutting down the pipeline while attorneys appeal a ruling to shutter it during the environmental review. -
Dakota pipeline timeline
Energy Transfer Partners says in a statement to Indian Country Today: "DAPL is seeking appropriate relief from [the judge's] order through the established legal process. ... We have not yet taken any steps to begin shutting down the line."