WASHINGTON: President-elect Donald Trump holds stock in the company building the disputed Dakota Access oil pipeline, and pipeline opponents warn that Trump’s investments could affect any decision he makes on the $3.8 billion project as president.
Concern about Trump’s possible conflicts comes amid protests that unfold daily along the proposed pipeline route. The dispute over the route has intensified in recent weeks, with total arrests since August rising to 528.
The chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe said Friday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to close the area where people have been camping to protest the pipeline due to safety concerns. A recent clash near the main protest camp in North Dakota left a police officer and several protesters injured.
Trump’s federal disclosure forms filed in May, show he owned between $15,000 and $50,000 in stock in Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners. That’s down from between $500,000 and $1 million a year earlier.
Trump also owns between $100,000 and $250,000 in Phillips 66, which has a one-quarter share of Dakota Access.
While Trump’s stake in the pipeline company is modest compared with other assets, ethics experts say it’s among dozens of potential conflicts that could be resolved by placing investments in a blind trust.
The Obama administration said this month it wants more study and tribal input before deciding whether to allow the pipeline to cross under a Missouri River reservoir in North Dakota.
The 1,200-mile pipeline would carry oil across four states to a shipping point in Illinois. The project has been held up while the Army Corps of Engineers consults with the Standing Rock Sioux, who believe the project could harm the tribe’s drinking water and cultural sites.
The delay raises the likelihood that a final decision will be made by Trump, a pipeline supporter who has vowed to “unleash” unfettered production of oil and gas.
“Trump’s investments in the pipeline business threaten to undercut faith in this process — which was already frayed — by interjecting his own financial well-being into a much bigger decision,” said Sharon Buccino, director of the land and wildlife program at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
“This should be about the interests of the many, rather than giving the appearance of looking at the interests of a few — including Trump,” Buccino said.
Trump, a billionaire who has never held public office, holds ownership stakes in more than 500 companies worldwide. He has said he plans to transfer control of his company to three of his adult children, but ethics experts have said conflicts could engulf the new administration if Trump does not liquidate his holdings.
Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks provided a statement to the AP on Friday: “We are in the process of vetting various structures with the goal of the immediate transfer of management of The Trump Organization and its portfolio of businesses to Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump as well as a team of highly skilled executives.”
