BISMARCK – The developer of the Dakota Access oil pipeline missed a year-end deadline to plant thousands of trees in North Dakota.
But Energy Transfer Partners says it’s still complying with a September 2017 agreement settling allegations it violated state rules during construction.
ETP was accused of removing too many trees and improperly handling a pipeline route change. One thing it was required to do to avoid fines was plant a certain number of trees by the end of the year.
Documents the company recently provided to state regulators show it didn’t meet that requirement. But it’s falling back on a settlement provision that allows the work to continue in 2019 under certain circumstances.