Dakota Access starts shipping oil

The Associated Press reports the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline began shipping oil for customers on Thursday. In case you missed it, Grist and The Intercept this week obtained documents that showed Energy Transfer Partners, the developers behind Dakota Access, hired a paramilitary service that spied, used military tactics and spread propaganda throughout Standing Rock protest camps to create confusion and hinder the activists’ efforts. Had a public police force used similar tactics, scholars say, it would likely be illegal.

Construction of the Dakota Access pipeline, which began shipping oil this week.