A hearing was set for Thursday in the case, but has been postponed because Archambault plans to travel to Washington, D.C., for a hearing on Wednesday in the tribe’s lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Purdon said.
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“We are committed to peaceful defense of our water and our territory”, the groups said.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland moved the hearing on the lawsuit to September 8 to prevent protesters from interfering with construction of the pipeline, the Associated Press reported. The president might decide, as he did with Keystone, that this pipeline would “exacerbate” climate change and hence should be reviewed more carefully. The reservation itself “straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border”, wrote The Associated Press.
Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners’ Dakota Access Pipeline is a $3.8 billion, 1,172-mile project that would carry almost a half-million barrels of crude oil daily from North Dakota’s oil fields through South Dakota and Iowa to an existing pipeline in Patoka, Illinois, where shippers can access Midwest and Gulf Coast markets. Federal agencies, however, argue the Bakken avoids “critical habitat” and is safe.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe have countered with their own lawsuit against the developer to challenge their permits to build the pipeline.
The pipeline is also planned to cross sacred lands belonging to the tribe.
People continue to gather in Cannon Ball, North Dakota to protest the pipeline. Meanwhile, the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota will file formal complaints for obstructing free movement.
At a recent news conference, Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier discussed the indefinite stoppage of work, and he also stated that protesters were armed with firearms and “pipe bombs”, posing a risk to the safety of police officers and construction workers. Stewart is a member of the Crow Tribe and wants to support the protest by the Sioux Tribe.
They said we are armed. The complaint also claims that Archambault excused all tribal employees from work on August 12 and encouraged them to protest.
The emergency declaration would let Dalrymple request additional funding for law enforcement but would not involve the National Guard, according to KFYR TV.
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Archambault, who was among those arrested during earlier protests, says he doesn’t not fear there will be violence, even as thousands of tribal members stream into the campsite to participate in the protest.
