The Standing Rock Sioux tribe just filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government over DAPL

Late Tuesday afternoon, attorneys representing the Standing Rock Sioux tribe filed a lawsuit against the Army Corps of Engineers over the recently re-started construction of the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline.

The suit alleges that in granting an easement to resume construction of the pipeline adjacent to Standing Rock tribal lands, the Army Corps of Engineers, under the direction of the Trump administration, was in violation of a previous agreement which required an in depth assessment of both the environmental risks of and the alternate routes available to the pipeline.

“In this arbitrary and capricious reversal of course, the Trump Administration is circumventing the law: wholly disregarding the treaty rights of the Standing Rock Sioux and ignoring the legally required environmental review,” attorney Jan Hasselman explained in a press release announcing the lawsuit. “It isn’t the 1800s anymore—the U.S. government must keep its promises to the Standing Rock Sioux and reject rather than embrace dangerous projects that undercut Treaties.”

The 56 page suit, filed in a Washington D.C. district court, requests that the court “grant its motion for partial summary judgment and vacate the Corps’ easement, authorizations.”