Baku. 5 December. REPORT.AZ/ The US Army has decided not to allow an oil pipeline to cross under a reservoir on land it controls in North Dakota in a move praised by protesters.
Report informs citing foreign media, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe hailed an "historic decision" and said it was "forever grateful" to President Obama.
Instead, the US Army Corps of Engineers will look at alternative routes.
"Today, the US Army Corps of Engineers announced that it will not be granting the easement to cross Lake Oahe for the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline. Instead, the Corps will be undertaking an environmental impact statement to look at possible alternative routes," the tribe's statement read.
North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple called the decision a "serious mistake".
North Dakota Republican Representative Kevin Cramer said the Army Corps' decision amounted to "a very chilling signal" for US infrastructure.
Notably, the activists were protesting 3.8-bln Dakota Access pipeline near Standing Rock Sioux reservation for several months and opposing the pipeline because they fear it will contaminate drinking water and run over sacred burial sites. Hundreds of US military veterans joined the activists last week. The campaigners, who have numbered thousands, have endured bitter temperatures and had been ordered to leave the area by Monday.
The pipeline is nearing to complete, excluding 1885 km-Lake Oahe section of Missouri River by Energy Transfer Partners LP.