But company officials said they would meet with government administrators.
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In coming weeks, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will review its initial decision to permit the pipeline and decide whether it correctly followed federal environmental law in granting permits.
Energy Transfer has reiterated its commitment to completing the Dakota Access Pipeline despite controversy surrounding a portion of the line’s route. “The water blessing this evening is meant to bring awareness and bless out wetlands”, says Lightfoot Holm.
Workers, who left the area when protesters arrived, are not only afraid for their safety, but also worry about the safety of protesters in the construction zone, said Steve Cortina, an organizer with the Laborers International Union of North America.
More people were arrested Tuesday near Geln Ullin, North Dakota for protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline.
She said Tuesday she is standing in solidarity with people all over the country that are protesting as well.
Pipeline crews arriving for work Wednesday morning found protesters already at a construction site just north of Interstate 94 about eight miles west of New Salem, or about 35 miles west of Bismarck, Morton County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Donnell Preskey said.
He compared it to someone buying a lot, going through the entire process to get permission to build a house on it, then being told to stop because a neighbor a few doors down didn’t like the project. It also asked for a “voluntary pause” of work by Energy Transfer Partners for 20 miles on either side of Lake Oahe, to which ETP has not indicated its position, though it noted in an email that work was ongoing elsewhere in the other four states. Previous protests have drawn celebrities including actresses Shailene Woodley and Susan Sarandon, and on Tuesday U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, a former Democratic U.S. presidential candidate, was slated to attend a rally in the nation’s capital.
Preskey did not immediately know how many people had been arrested or what charges the might face.
Bulldozers are already clearing a path for the almost $4 billion Dakota Access Pipeline.
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His office says the state and Morton County have spent a combined $1.1 million so far to police the protests.
